As a motion picture,
they were acclaimed by the world. As the law of God, they have
been loved by some, hated by others -- but transgressed by
all.

The Ten Commandments have been cursed, maligned, distorted,
vilified; some, by human arguments, have tried to do away with them.
A small few of the obedient have experienced the blessings they can
bring. David said, "O how love I thy law!" and called it perfect;
Paul called it holy, just and good; Jesus honored, magnified, obeyed,
and commanded obedience to the Ten Commandments.

But to most people they remain and an enigma that has never been
understood. Here is the answer to the request of thousands -- a
booklet explaining plainly this inexorable living law, soon to become
the basic law of the peaceful, prosperous, joyful world tomorrow!

THE KEYS TO
UNDERSTANDING

This is a lawless age. Crime and violence are increasing at a
fearful rate because among millions of people there is practically no
respect for law or constituted authority -- either that of God, or of
man!

On the international scene, nations live in daily fear because
they very well know that the so-called "guarantees" and treaties of
peace are not worth the paper on which they are written. There is no
law -- respect for no authority -- among the nations of the
world.

This is the world in which you live!

The Real Source of Law

Men have lost all deep respect for law because they have forgotten
the very SOURCE of all law and authority! Your Bible says: "There is
ONE lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy" (James 4:12). That
lawgiver is Almighty God.

In their modern search for a man-devised "peace of mind" or a
"religion that satisfies," men have totally forgotten about the great
God who RULES this universe! No wonder some of our young people --
the leaders of tomorrow -- have such a lawless attitude.

One of the world's foremost educators warned a group of military
leaders of this very problem. He was the late Dr. Rufus von Klein
Smid, former chancellor of the University of Southern California. He
stated: "I have no quarrel with the present emphasis placed on
science, but today we are paying for support of schools which act
from September 1 to June 30 as if there were no God." Dr. von Klein
Smid noted the "absence of moral values" in our youth resulting from
this attitude.

When you leave the true God out there is no real standard of
behavior left. The result is spiritual chaos and lawlessness and
wretchedness in the human heart.

In nearly all present-day religious denominations, the tendency is
to try to "modernize" and "democratize" God, and do away with His
authority to RULE His creation -- and us, His creatures. There are
very few truly "God-fearing men" left on earth today!

Having made their imaginative pet "god" in their OWN image, men
certainly do not stand in awe and deep respect of such a "god." They
do not fear their "god." And they certainly do not OBEY this creature
of their own imagination!

Yet the real message of Jesus Christ was about the God who created
and now RULES this earth! His was the God who blessed men for
obedience to His laws -- and who punished for disobedience.

The Jesus Christ of your Bible ALWAYS preached the gospel of the
Kingdom of God (Mark 1:14; Luke 4:43). In modern language, He
preached the happy news of the GOVERNMENT of God -- the RULE of God.
He said: "REPENT YE, and BELIEVE the gospel" (Mark 1:15).

Before you can sincerely believe and accept Jesus Christ as your
Savior, and have His shed blood cover your sins, you must repent. But
repent of WHAT? Repent of SIN!

What IS sin? Despite the contradictory ideas and generalizations
of organized religious denominations, your Bible clearly states: "Sin
IS the transgression of the law" (I John 3:4).

Sin is BREAKING GOD'S SPIRITUAL LAW -- the Ten Commandments. That
is definitely and specifically what sin is!

Before God will forgive your past sins, you must first repent of
breaking His law! You must learn to fear and respect God as the
Supreme Ruler of this universe -- and as YOUR King and Ruler.

Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, was inspired to write:
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge" (Prov. 1:7).
This godly fear is by no means a personal dread, but a deep respect
and reverence for the great office and authority of God -- for His
divine power -- His wisdom -- His love.

Without faith in such a great and real God, man is incomplete. Cut
off from the true God of law and order, man is purposeless, empty,
frustrated, confused. The way out of modern man's emptiness and
confusion may sound trite or simple to some people. But it is real --
and it works! It is simply that man must quit worshiping false gods.
Man must return to the God of the Bible, the God of creation, the God
who rules this universe!

Summarizing His way to the fulfillment of man's desire for a
happy, abundant and purposeful life, God inspired these words at the
end of the book of Ecclesiastes: "The end of the matter, all having
been heard: fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the
whole man" (Eccl. 12:13, Moffatt translation).

Man is frustrated and incomplete without this living, vital
contact with God -- walking His way, keeping His commandments.
Obedience to God's commandments would bring peace and fulfillment and
joy to all the nations and peoples of this earth. It is the real
answer to all of our problems, individually and collectively. It is
the way of life Jesus Christ is going to teach when He returns to
rule this world (Micah 4:2).

Do You Really Understand God's Commandments?

The prophet David was a man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22). He
is used as a type of Christ, and will rule directly under Christ over
the entire nation of Israel in the soon-coming millennium (Ezek.
37:24), when Christ will bring peace to this earth.

David wrote: "O how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the
day" (Psalm 119:97). David studied and pondered God's law all day
long! He learned how to APPLY it to every situation in life.

This gave David wisdom. "Thou through thy commandments hast made
me wiser than mine enemies" (verse 98). God's law showed David the
WAY to go -- a WAY OF LIFE. "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a
light unto my path" (verse 105).

Throughout this 119th Psalm, David declared how he loved God's
law, and used it as his guide in life. Do you?

Probably you don't. Most of you have been taught that God's law
was done away -- or else you simply have not realized that it is the
only real way of life that will bring man happiness and joy. You
haven't realized that God's law reveals the very nature and character
of God Himself. And God commands us: "Be ye holy; for I am holy" (I
Peters 1:16).

Remember that the true Christians, the "little flock" of Jesus,
are described as those "which keep the commandments of God, and have
the testimony of Jesus Christ" (Rev. 12:17). And God gives this
description of the character of His saints: "Here is the patience of
the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the
faith of Jesus" (Rev. 14:12).

If you are to be counted among God's true saints who will escape
the seven last plagues, you will have to have this living faith --
this OBEDIENT faith -- in Almighty God through Jesus Christ living
His life in you! You will have to understand and keep God's spiritual
law as revealed in the Ten Commandments!

In answer to thousands of requests, and to help all of you come to
really understand the commandments of Almighty God your Creator, we
are publishing in this booklet a series of articles explaining and
expounding each of the Ten Commandments. You should really study this
booklet, look up each scripture quoted, live by His spiritual and
holy law.

The Almighty God of Israel

To properly understand and feel the real impact of the Ten
Commandments, let us notice the setting in which they were given.
Remember that Moses and the Israelites had preserved the knowledge
that their God was the Creator of heaven and earth. He was the great
RULER of the earth who had brought about the Flood in the days of
Noah, their forefather.

And now the true God, the God of Israel, had delivered them from
Egyptian bondage by tremendous miracles; had brought them out of
Egypt and through the waters of the Red Sea which rose on either side
of them as a mighty wall (Exodus 14).

Since the time they had passed through the Red Sea, God had begun
to deal with them and to remind them of His laws which they may have,
in part, forgotten. Before they ever reached Mount Sinai,

God erased all doubt about which day was His Sabbath by performing
a series of miracles to remind them (Exodus 16). In Exodus 18, Moses
was already judging the people according to God's laws and statutes
(verse 16).

Now that they were come to Mount Sinai, God proposed -- NOT to
give them a new law -- but to enter into a covenant or AGREEMENT with
them so that they would be His special people and He would be their
God whose laws and statutes and judgments they would obey.

Since the Ten Commandments were -- and always will be -- God's
basic SPIRITUAL law (Romans 7:14), they were made a part of this
agreement between God and Israel. Since they were His holy and
spiritual laws, He gave them with great power, and, unlike the rest
of the covenant, wrote them with His own hand.

Notice the setting in Exodus 19. God commanded the people to clean
themselves up and be ready against the third day when He would come
down to them (verses 10-11). "And it came to pass on the third day in
the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick
cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet, exceeding loud;
so that all the people that was in the camp TREMBLED" (verse 16).

God was here showing His power as the Creator of this earth as He
began to speak with His own voice the Ten Commandments! As the
Creator Himself descended upon Mount Sinai in His glory, "the smoke
thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and THE WHOLE MOUNT
quaked GREATLY" (verse 18).

In this setting of great glory and majesty and power, God spoke
the Ten Commandments to the people who were trembling in awe below
the mountain. His voice must have literally shaken these people with
its power as it boomed across the land like the sound of thunder
(Psalm 104:7).

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT

And so God began speaking the Ten Commandments -- revealing to His
people the laws of life which bring success and happiness and peace
with God and with man. In this day of human reason, of agnosticism,
and of creeping socialism, it is important to notice that the
Almighty spoke first not about the "brotherhood of man," but about
obedience and worship to God -- the Creator and Ruler of heaven and
earth -- and the personal God of those who serve and obey Him!

"And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God,
which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of
bondage. THOU SHALT HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME" (Exodus
20:1-3).

That is the first and, as we shall see later, greatest
commandment. Study the wording of this commandment carefully -- and
meditate on it as David did!

"I am the Lord thy God" is a more revealing phrase than at first
meets the eye.

The "I" who was speaking with such tremendous power was quite
evidently the great Creator of heaven and earth. In His very manner
of appearance, He had demonstrated His power as Creator by sending
forth thunderings and lightnings and literally shaking Mount Sinai as
if it were a wet dishrag!

The First Commandment and You

Now that we have seen the power and might with which God revealed
Himself when He spoke the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai, let us
see how each one of them -- beginning with the first commandment --
applies to you personally. For if you make any claim to being a
Christian, remember that Jesus Christ, the FOUNDER of Christianity,
said that you shall live by EVERY word of God (Matt. 4:4). And
certainly -- through God's help -- you must walk according to the
COMMANDMENTS of Almighty God if you would enter into eternal life
(Matt. 19:17).

How, then, does the first commandment apply to YOU?

"I am the Eternal thy God," the Creator states. Is the God of
creation, the God of Israel, the God of the Bible, really your God
whom you serve and obey? Or have you conjured up your own false "god"
or "gods"? Or are you falsely worshiping according to the "traditions
of men," which Jesus said would cause you to worship God IN VAIN?
(Mark 7 :7.)

These are things YOU need to consider!

To the Christians God says that He is the one who has "brought
thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."
Throughout the Bible, Egypt is used as a type of sin. All unconverted
men are held in slavery to the organized, paganized system of this
world, and to their own personal lusts.

When a person is really converted, God brings him OUT of that
bondage -- and he comes out willingly and gladly!

You need to examine whether or not you have ever really come out
from the false traditions and ways of this world and have also
repented of your own personal lusts and sins. God commands: "Thou
shalt have no other gods before me." Have you put something else in
place of God? Is your time, your interest, your service taken up more
with something other than the true God? What idol have you placed
between yourself and the true God, studying His Word, and living by
it?

God says: "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament
sheweth his handywork" (Psalm 19:1). Throughout its pages, the Bible
declares that God is the real Creator of this earth and of the
universe. He is the one who gives life and breath to all creatures
(Genesis 1).

Do you honestly think of and worship God as your Creator and the
one who gives you every breath of air you breathe? You should, for
that is part of worshiping the true God and having no false gods
before Him!

Today, the greatest deception of all is not communism or atheism,
but the false, pagan doctrine of evolution preached by the false god
of science. Evolution is an attempt to explain the creation without
the Creator. It denies the true God and His very nature and office!
It is the very basis of most of this world's "education"! But the
wisdom of this world is FOOLISHNESS with God (I Cor. 1:20).

In the Bible, God is revealed not only as the Creator, but the one
who sustains and who rules His creation -- intervening in the affairs
of His servants to guide and to bless and to deliver them.

David said: "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my
deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and
the horn of my salvation, and my high tower" (Ps. 18:2). Literally
hundreds of times, David called upon God to intervene and deliver him
from some trouble or calamity.

Do you go to God with these things, or do you trust in your own
strength and in purely human devices?

Understand God's Purpose

In Matthew 6:9, Jesus tells us, when we pray, to address God as
our "Father." Throughout the New Testament, He is revealed as the one
to whom we should go with all of our trials and problems. Like a
human father, He watches over His children and blesses and protects
them. He also chastens every son that He loves (Heb. 12:6).

From the beginning, God has been the ultimate Father of mankind.
In creating man, God said: "Let us make man in OUR IMAGE, after OUR
LIKENESS: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea ..."
(Gen. 1:26).

Man was made in the physical image of God -- the outward form and
shape of God. He was given certain responsibilities and prerogatives
like God Himself has; given dominion or rule over all the creation on
this earth. He was given certain limited powers to make or "create"
-- so to speak -- new things that had never existed before in that
exact form. In this limited way, he has some of the very abilities of
God! For God plans and purposes that we shall ultimately be like Him
-- glorified as He is glorified! (I John 3:2.) Man is ultimately to
be born of the spirit -- made of spirit -- composed of spirit (John
3:6). He will be part of the spirit-born, ruling family of God.

God the Father is reproducing Himself! He plans that those who
overcome human nature in this life and learn -- through the help of
His indwelling Holy Spirit -- to keep His perfect laws shall be made
like Him -- born into His very family and kingdom!

Then, AFTER this life of growing and overcoming, AFTER this
spiritual REBIRTH, man will be able to exercise prerogatives of God
Himself! He will be qualified as an additional member of the ruling
Kingdom of God! (If you would like a detailed exposition of this
spiritual rebirth, write for our free booklet "Just What Do You Mean
-- Born Again.")

Yet, even in this regard, science and this civilization compete
with God, and therefore become FALSE gods!

Modern science is trying desperately to give man power far in
excess of his mental and spiritual capabilities for handling such
forces! As former President Eisenhower said in his first inaugural
address: "Science seems ready to confer upon us as its final gift the
power to erase human life from this planet." And now -- realizing
what they have already done forebodes destruction of this earth --
scientists are working feverishly to invade the very heavens!

And here on earth our civilization continues its paganized
teaching that MAN is the ultimate judge of what is right or wrong and
puts man completely in the place of God and His laws! Whether we
realize it or not, this carnal attitude-this God-REJECTING attitude
-- permeates every phase and facet of our civilization today!

What You Serve Is Your "God"

Most people who just go to church once a week and take their
religion for granted actually don't really know what worship is. They
think it is something you do once a week in church not realizing that
it should affect every thought and word and action every day of your
life! In everything you think or say or do, you either serve God, or
else you serve your own lusts and Satan the devil!

The apostle Paul was inspired to explain this: "Know ye not, that
to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to
whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto
righteousness?" (Rom. 6:16.) There is no middle ground! You either
delight in God and His law and serve and obey Him all day long, or
else you serve and obey your own lusts!

One key to this situation is how you use your time. For your time
is your life! The Bible commands us to "redeem ... [buy back]
the time, because the days are evil" (Eph. 5:16.) How much time do
you actually spend each week studying and meditating on God's Word
and law as David did? How much time do you spend in earnest,
prevailing prayer to Almighty God? How much time do you spend in
discussing the Bible with others, teaching it to your family, writing
to others words of spiritual edification as well as words of purely
social interest?

It is true that most professing Christians think of their religion
as just occupying a corner of their lives. But in all fairness and
love we say that the day will come when they will realize that that
type of religion is false religion and false worship!

What is the most important thing God commands you to do?

When Jesus Christ your Savior was asked this question, He
answered: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great
commandment." Then Jesus continued: "And the second is like unto it,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments
hang ALL the law and the prophets" (Matt. 22:37-40).

On these two commandments hangs the destiny of all nations and
individuals! If men will obey these two commandments as they are
magnified throughout the Bible, they will be blessed! If not, they
will be cursed and will become wretched in their own confusion and
frustration! As Jesus said, the very writings of the prophets hang on
whether or not nations obey or disobey God's law. Every prophecy
written against a nation shows that God foresaw that the nation would
disobey and turn away its eyes from His law and obedience to His
commandments!

These are the living laws -- like the law of gravity -- that rule
the world in which you live!

Learn to Love and Worship God Above All Else

Jesus said the great commandment is to love God with all of your
heart and soul and mind. You are to worship and serve God with all of
your being!

Whenever you think or speak or hear of anything good or beautiful
or wonderful, you should think of God! Remember James' inspired
statement: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and
cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness,
neither shadow of turning" (James 1:17). Because you love Him,
because you know His way is right, because you truly worship Him, you
should meditate on God's law and on His Word daily as David did. You
should study your Bible regularly to live by every word of God. You
should pray to God regularly, with sincerity and with all your heart,
as Jesus did, setting us an example.

Whenever you find that God commands you in His Word to do
something, you should immediately say: "Yes, Lord," and not argue,
"reason" or evade the issue, as so many falsely professing Christians
do today.

Knowing that He made you and that your life really belongs to Him,
you should present your body a living sacrifice as God tells you to
do (Rom. 12:1). You should serve and obey God with all your being --
with a willing heart -- and do all in your power to prepare yourself
for and to further the work of reaching others with the message of
the soon-coming government of God which will finally bring real peace
to this earth.

Your attitude should always be that of Jesus Christ, your example,
when He was called upon to give His very life: "Not my will, but
thine, be done" (Luke 22:42).

This is what true worship really means! This is how to keep the
first commandment, the GREAT commandment!

THE SECOND
COMMANDMENT

In His teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus stated:
"Whosoever therefore shall break one of these LEAST commandments, and
shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of
heaven: but whosoever shall DO and TEACH them [even the LEAST
commandments], the same shall be called great in the kingdom of
heaven" (Matt. 5:19). Throughout the entire message, Jesus was
explaining and expounding and magnifying the Ten Commandments. He was
showing that this spiritual law was a living -- like the law of
gravity or inertia. When you break it, it breaks you!

We have seen, therefore, that when men or nations break the first
commandment -- "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" -- they
bring an inevitable penalty of suffering and wretchedness upon
themselves and their posterity. Men cut themselves off from the
source of their being, from the purpose of life, from the laws that
would give them happiness, peace and joy. Men cut off from the true
God are empty, frustrated and miserable. And whether by the awfulness
of war, personal violence, sickness or simply the rotting of
corruptible human flesh, the ultimate fate of all men cut off from
God is an ignominious death -- with no hope or promise of eternal
life thereafter (Rom. 6:23; Rev. 21:8).

The Second Commandment Stated

Man is incomplete, then, having cut himself off from the true
worship of the true God. Yet he is to worship that God alone: "Thou
shalt have no other gods before me."

The second commandment tells us about how to worship the true God,
what pitfalls to avoid in our worship, and of the continuing blessing
or penalty that comes to our progeny as a result of the way in which
we worship Almighty God.

"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness
of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth
beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow
down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord
[Eternal] thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of
the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of
them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love
me, and keep my commandments" (Ex. 20:4-6).

The natural mind of physical man cries out for something to help
him in his worship of God. He wants some physical object to "remind"
him of the invisible God -- some "aid" to worship. Yet, that is
exactly what is forbidden in this commandment!

Jesus said: "But the hour cometh, and NOW IS, when the true
worshipers shall worship the Father in SPIRIT and in TRUTH: for the
Father seeketh such to worship him" (John 4:23). Notice that it is
only the "true" worshipers who are able to worship the Father in
spirit and in truth. Many others attempt some form of worship but,
because they limit their worship by a false concept of God, it is
largely in vain. "God IS a SPIRIT: and they that worship him MUST
worship him in spirit and in truth" (verse 24).

The instant a man sets up any representation of God, he denies
that which is essential in God. God is the essence of all power --
all wisdom -- all love. God is limitless. When man erects a mental or
physical image of God, he automatically limits in his own thought and
worship the God who will not be limited!

The Basis of Idolatry

Many times after reiterating the Ten Commandments, God again
warned Israel against any form of idolatry. "Ye shall make you no
idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither
shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it:
for I am the Lord your God" (Lev. 26:1). God was continually against
EVERY form of idol or image used in worship.

However, lest some misunderstand, let us pause at this point to
note that God does NOT condemn art or sculpture, but rather the
setting up of any picture or image or representation "to bow down
unto it." In the original command in Exodus 20:4-6, God is NOT
condemning every picture and image, but, as the command continues,
"Thou shalt not bow down, thyself to them, nor serve them." So it is
the use of art or sculpture as a form of worship or "aid" to worship
that Gods condemns!

The real BASIS of all idolatry is that self-willed, rebellious man
refuses to surrender himself to worship the true God IN THE WAY THAT
HE COMMANDS! Not really knowing the true God, then, nor having His
Spirit, man thinks he needs some "aid" or "representation" to help
him worship his humanly devised concept of God. Notice that this
second commandment is not speaking of the worship of an IDOL --
that's forbidden in the first commandment. This second commandment
forbids the use of physical "aids" or "helps" in worshiping the
invisible God.

A Converted Person Knows God

No man who really knows God as his Father -- no man who is living
in daily communion with Him -- needs a picture or image to help him
to pray. If a man thinks he needs this kind of help, it is simply
because he has not come to know God -- and undoubtedly is not filled
with and led by the Holy Spirit of God. In order to worship God in
spirit, you must have the Holy Spirit. "Now if any man have not the
Spirit of Christ, HE IS NONE OF HIS" (Rom. 8:9).

But God gives His Holy Spirit only after repentance and baptism --
and only to those who "obey him" (Acts 2:38; 5:32). Very few men in
this day and age have truly surrendered themselves to obey God, to
walk with Him, to let Him rule their every thought and word and
action. Therefore, they are not actually acquainted with God. He
seems far off -- unreal -- nebulous. They need a physical "reminder"
in front of them to help them realize that He exists and is there to
hear their prayers!

Pictures of Jesus

Thousands of professing Christians employ representations or
pictures of a so-called Jesus Christ in their worship -- and even
display them in their homes. What does your Bible say about such
pictures?

First of all, the second commandment itself obviously prohibits
the use of anything which represents God or could easily become an
object of worship. Certainly, since Jesus Christ is God (Heb. 1:8),
this would directly prohibit any picture or likeness of His
person!

In addition, for those who might wish to "reason" or argue about
this point, these so-called pictures of Christ have no similarity
whatever to the way Jesus Christ really looked! Jesus -- when in
human flesh -- was a Jew (Heb. 7:14). The features in most of His
supposed pictures are obviously not Jewish!

As the Word of God, Christ inspired the apostle Paul to write:
"Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long
hair, it is a SHAME unto him?" (I Cor. 11:14.) Yet these pictures
invariably show a man with long hair, soft feminine features and a
sentimental, sanctimonious look in His eyes.

This is NOT the Christ of your Bible!

Actually, Jesus was undoubtedly very masculine in appearance. As a
young man, He was a carpenter -- working outdoors. And He continued
spending most of His time outdoors even during His ministry.

So most crucifixes, pictures and images of Jesus are in total
opposition to every description given of Him in the sacred Word of
God! They give a false impression of the true Jesus Christ in every
respect.

Jesus' face must have had a rugged, sunburned appearance. He was
not womanish in appearance, but rather had short hair like a man. He
did not have beautiful, aristocratic features, but as He inspired
Isaiah to describe His human appearance: "He hath no form nor
comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we
should desire him" (Isa. 53:2). As a human being, Jesus was a normal,
healthy, perhaps somewhat rugged looking young Jew in His early
thirties, who with earnestness and conviction preached the message of
God's soon coming Kingdom or rule over this earth.

However, if we think of Jesus' appearance at all, we should think,
in general terms at least, of the way He looks today. He has
described this for us in Revelation 1:13-16: "His head and his hairs
were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame
of fire ... and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his
strength."

As very God, Jesus' face now shines with radiance and with power.
As a human being, you would not dare to look directly into it!

Many will claim they do not worship these pictures or images.
Perhaps so. But this false picture and false concept of Christ
undoubtedly comes into their minds quite often when they think of
Christ or pray. These false pictures and statues actually come
between them and Christ. They separate the worshiper from Christ!

If you use such images or pictures of Christ, you are breaking the
second commandment! And you are greatly limiting your concept of the
living Christ -- who now sits glorified at the right hand of God in
heaven with His face shining like, the sun in full strength!

Worshiping Systems and Institutions

One of the most common forms of modern idolatry is making an idol
out of one's church or society. For many people, this world's society
-- its dictates, customs and traditions -- becomes a literal god.
Many people are desperately afraid of doing anything that might be
regarded as different or "odd." They feel they must conform to this
world and its ways.

But God commands: "Be NOT CONFORMED to this world, but be ye
transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Rom 12:2). This command
must seem very hard to obey for people who get to thinking that other
PEOPLE must be right in what, they think and say and practice.

The Bible shows that many people in Jesus' day failed in their
worship: "For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of
God" (John 12:43). If you blindly obey the dictates of your family,
your church or society instead of the direct commands of God, you are
guilty of idolatry. That group or institution becomes an idol to you
in place of the true God!

Even ritual in a church service is a dangerous thing, for however
refined the ritual of some institutions may be, it begins and ends in
the physical senses of human man -- and is not a valid substitute for
the true worship of God "in spirit." The Bible directly warns that
people of our day would "have a FORM of godliness, but deny the POWER
thereof" (II Tim 3:5).

The true God is the invisible, Eternal Creator and Ruler of the
universe. How should you worship Him? He answers: "To this man will I
look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and
trembleth at my word" (Isa. 66:2).

You must worship God directly -- and with a humble and willing
heart. You must study God's Word, willingly be corrected by it, and
tremble before its authority over your life! With a heart proven to
be submissive through repentance and obedience, you must pray to God
in heaven many times each week on your knees and in silent prayer as
you go about your daily tasks. You must come to know and love Him as
your Father.

As Enoch and Noah and Abraham did, you must learn to "walk with
God" -- and be in constant and increasing communion and yieldedness
to Him throughout every day of your life. Then -- guided by His
Spirit -- you will never even begin to consider using an image or
idol or picture as an "aid" to prayer and worship of the great
sovereign Ruler of this universe, and your personal Father in
heaven.

A Solemn Warning and Promise

We have seen that God forbids the making of any image or idol to
represent Him: "For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the
iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth
generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of
them that love me, and keep my commandments" (Ex. 20:5-6).

Because God is our Father, He is lovingly zealous for our eternal
welfare. He is jealous over us, in that He will not countenance the
worshiping of false gods by His children. This, of course, is for our
own good!

If we persist in an idolatrous and vain form of worship, God says
He will visit our iniquity upon our children and grandchildren and
great-grandchildren. There are many ramifications to this statement
and principle.

But there is one obvious direct meaning in this context. If, in
worship, men put an idol, image or something else in place of God and
come under the influence of that false worship, then they are not
only harming themselves -- but their children and grandchildren! The
principle is that their false idea of worship will be transmitted to
their children -- damaging and wrecking their lives and happiness! It
is a solemn and terrible thing thus to pass on to your children a
false concept of God. It is one of the most awful things a man can
do! But together with this warning, God gives a merciful promise to
those who are willing to worship God as He commands. In their case,
He is a loving and merciful God, "shewing mercy unto thousands" of
them that love Him, and keep His commandments.

Here is a remarkable contrast. God only visits the iniquity of the
fathers to the third and fourth generations before intervening with
merciful punishment and awakening to truth. But He shows mercy unto
the THOUSANDTH generation!

God calls men into His own immediate spiritual presence -- to
worship their Creator DIRECTLY. Men can come to really KNOW the great
God of the universe as their personal Father. They can daily walk
with Him, talk with Him. Whenever a man stops short of that
face-to-face worship of the Eternal God, he is working ruin in his
own character -- breaking the commandment of God.

This is the meaning and force of the second commandment.

THE THIRD
COMMANDMENT

Is God really first in your personal life? Results of a poll of
1500 college students showed that they had two sets of values toward
which they professed allegiance: on the first level, towards self,
family and friends; on the second level, to mankind (in general) and
GOD.

It is notable that God was least regarded by these "educated"
young people! Yet in this same poll, 90 percent of those questioned
indicated a belief in God. This prevailing spiritual lethargy and
passive disrespect toward God -- and toward the great magnitude of
His office and power -- is indicative of a growing trend even among
churchgoers and professing Christians. People like to talk about
religion and God, but they do not stand in awe of His position and
His name.

And this spiritual cancer has within it the seeds of the
destruction of our Western civilization!

The Third Commandment Stated

In discussing the first and second commandments, we found that we
must guard against making a god out of ANYTHING -- and putting it in
place of the true God. And we learned that God commands us to worship
Him DIRECTLY -- to walk with Him, to talk with Him, to really know
and worship Him in spirit and truth -- and to avoid using any image,
picture or physical object as an "aid" to worship or to "remind" us
of the great Creator.

The third commandment deals with God's name, His office, His
position as the great sovereign Ruler of the universe: "Thou shalt
not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not
hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain" (Exodus 20:7).

In the Bible, personal names have a meaning. The original Hebrew
name of ABRAM was changed to ABRAHAM -- for Abraham means "a father
of many nations." And Abraham was destined to become just that -- "a
father of many nations" (Gen. 17:5).

So it is with GOD'S NAME.

God's Name Reveals the Kind of God You Worship

Every name or title of God reveals some attribute of the divine
character. In studying God's Word, we learn new facts about God's
nature and character with each new name by which He reveals Himself.
In other words, God names Himself what He is!

If men use the NAME of God in a way which denies the true MEANING
and CHARACTER of God, they are breaking the third commandment. God
declares through Isaiah: "Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are
called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of
Judah, which saw by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God
of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness" (Isa 48:1). People
to whom this prophecy applies use the name of God, but fail to obey
the revelation of God contained in His name.

And shocking though it may be, many religious people repeat over
and over the name of God in sermons or prayers. They are taking God's
name IN VAIN -- to no good use or purpose!

The original command says: "The Lord will not hold him GUILTLESS
that taketh his name in vain." The Hebrew word here rendered
"guiltless" may also be translated "clean": "The Lord will not hold
him to be CLEAN that taketh his name in vain." The test of spiritual
cleanliness is the attitude of a man to the name of God! A man is
clean or unclean according as he uses the name of God in truth -- or
for vanity. Do you realize what this means? It certainly indicates
that a man is better off who -- because of sincere religious doubts
-- has dropped the name of God from his vocabulary than is a
professing Christian who talks about God continually, but denies Him
in his daily life!

In the Lord's prayer, we are instructed to "hallow" God's name.
And the third commandment with which we are dealing has directly to
do with showing the proper respect for the name of God. One of the
ten great points of God's eternal spiritual law is devoted to this
very thing!

First of all, however, let us make it clear to those who may have
been misinformed on the subject that reverencing God's name does not
mean trying to speak Hebrew or Greek or learning to pronounce God's
name in the original biblical languages! There are certain sects
which make a great matter out of this. Some claim that "Jehovah" is
the Father's name. Others claim that it is "Yahweh," others "Yahveh,"
and others use still different variations. The truth of the matter is
that since all admit that the Hebrew vowels have not been preserved,
no one knows exactly how this Hebrew name of God should be
pronounced! (For proof that "God" is the Father's name, request our
free reprint article titled "The Unknown God.")

Describing the significance of one's name, Moulton-Milligan's
"Vocabulary of the Greek Testament" states: "By a usage similar to
that of the Heb .... ["onoma", "name"] comes in the N.T. to
denote the 'character', 'name', 'authority' of the person indicated"
(p. 451). Also, and even more important, God Himself inspired Daniel
and Ezra to use the Aramaic word for God in nine chapters of the
Bible which they wrote in this language, and the New Testament
writers all were inspired to use the GREEK words for the Deity.

The real importance of the matter, of course, lies not in the
phonetic sound which is used to describe God, but in the meaning
which His names convey! Thus, this respected authority on biblical
linguistics clearly shows that one's name signifies one's office,
authority and especially one's character. The names of God show us
what God is like -- they reveal His character!

Do you really know what God is like? Do you respect His various
offices and His name as you should?

Turn to your Bible and check up!

God's Nature and Character Revealed

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen.
1:1). In this very first verse of the Bible, God reveals Himself by
the Hebrew name ELOHIM. There is one God -- but more than one member
in the Godhead, or God family! This same word ELOHIM is used in
Genesis 1:26: "And GOD [ELOHIM] said, Let us make man in OUR
image, after OUR likeness." Here it is clearly seen -- in context
with the passage itself -- that more than one person shares the name
of God -- ELOHIM. In the New Testament, this is made clear by the
revelation that God the Father created all things by and through
Jesus Christ -- who was with God and was God from the beginning (John
1:1-14; Eph. 3:9). In these passages, therefore, it is revealed that
God is more than one person -- God the Father and the "Word" or
SPOKESMAN, who later became Jesus Christ when born in human flesh.
This Father-Son relationship shows that God is a FAMILY. And the way
the word ELOHIM is used in these early passages in Genesis and
elsewhere certainly indicates that God is the creating kingdom or
family! Interestingly, ELOHIM is plural in form but is used either in
the singular or plural, depending on the context.

God, by virtue of being Creator, is also the Ruler over His
creation. We find that immediately after creating the first man and
woman, God gave them both a blessing and a command: "Be fruitful, and
multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it" (Gen. 1:28). Yes,
the true God is Ruler -- and you should obey Him because He made you
and gives you every breath of air you breathe!

In dealing with Abraham, God sometimes calls Himself EL SHADDAI,
which means "ALMIGHTY God." So God is the source of ALL power! His
name should be revered, because it stands for the one who is the
source of all power, all might, and all authority.

The name most commonly translated "LORD" in the Old Testament is
translated from the Hebrew letters YHWH, sometimes rendered YAHWEH or
YAHVEH. The original Hebrew word means the "Eternal" or
"Self-Existent One." The word is both used and defined in Genesis
21:33: "And Abraham planted a grove [tree -- ESHEL in the
Hebrew] in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD
[YHWH], the EVERLASTING God." This Hebrew word, often
translated "Jehovah" in some of the revised versions, shows God's
character as the EVERLIVING God and is used to show His everlasting
office in a covenant relationship to those whom He has created.

God has always existed and will always exist to carry out His
blessings, His promises, and His covenant with His people! Our God is
the ETERNAL -- the Self-Existent One.

Throughout His Word, God's name is connected with His attributes
-- His power, His eternal existence, His mercy, His faithfulness, His
wisdom, His love. Notice how the prophet David connects God's name
with His creative power: "O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name
in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens .... When
I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the
stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful
of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" (Psalm
8:1-4.)

Here God is pictured as setting His glory above the heavens. Then
David proceeds to show that God has created the heavens, the earth
and man. No wonder God's name and office are to be respected!

In our everyday speech, many of us are damning the very name of
our Creator and our God! We are using our breath to curse and damn
the name of the very one who gives us our life and the very breath
with which we curse His name! An expression used with terrible
frequency is asking God to "damn" someone. Poor men and wealthy men
alike give ready tongue to this vile oath -- and often think they are
proving their "manhood" or getting away with something by doing it!
Yet it would be hard to find any normal human being anywhere who
would like to see this phrase carried out with respect to his fellow
man in all of its terrible meaning. Using this expression is trifling
with the name of our God -- asking Him to do something which He has
never intended to do.

God never "damned" a man in the way men seem to think! This idea
is an awful heresy! God's work is the work of salvation, and God will
deprive no man of eternal life, except that man by his own volition
and will rejects God's way.

God says: "To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and
of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word" (Isa. 66:2). The very
same thing may be said about the deep respect and godly fear we
should have for God's name -- which directly represents God's
character, His Word, and His purposes.

Should You Swear?

Men today are accustomed not only to profane swearing and invoking
God's name to back up their oaths, but also many legal ceremonies in
some lands invoke the name of God in a form of swearing or an
oath.

Jesus Christ said: "But I say unto you, Swear NOT AT ALL; neither
by heaven; for it is God's throne: nor by the earth; for it is his
footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great
King" (Matt. 5:34-35).

God's name is so sacred and holy that we are commanded not to
invoke it to back up our words or our oath! Fortunately, the American
nation was founded by men who read their Bibles and made great
allowance for religious liberty and freedom. Therefore, even though
many public officials will, on occasion, ask you to raise your hand
and "swear," they all realize that provision has been made so that
you can employ the word "affirm" instead of swearing.

And actually, as we should all know, the simple affirmation or
formal word of a God-fearing Christian is far more to be relied upon
than ten thousand oaths given by a liar on the witness stand! The
travesty of some few businessmen, politicians and even college
professors taking God's name in vain on the witness stand in this
manner bears ample proof of this statement!

Religious Titles to Avoid

Speaking of using certain expressions as a religious title, Christ
said: "And call no man your FATHER upon the earth: for one is your
Father, which is in heaven" (Matt. 23:9). Although there is a
flagrant and obvious abuse of this command in some large religious
organizations, this statement of God's Word is clear to anyone who
wishes to obey it.

Our only spiritual Father is God! Any application of this word as
a religious title to a man is simply direct blasphemy against the
Creator who has made all men -- even the weak, corruptible human
beings who impudently take to themselves and falsely assume that
which is a divine title.

Of course, we SHOULD call our human parent "father," as God
Himself does in the fifth commandment.

Another common misuse of the divine name is the application of the
term "Reverend" to any human being -- be he a minister or otherwise.
For God applies this title to Himself alone: "He sent redemption unto
his people: he hath commanded his covenant forever: HOLY and REVEREND
is his [God's] name" (Psalm 111:9). "Reverend" applies to
someone to be revered -- someone worthy of worship! No mortal man is
worthy of such a title! Even so great a servant of God as the apostle
Paul himself was inspired to write: "For I know that in me (that is,
in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing" (Rom. 7:18). ANY man who thinks
he is worthy of worship -- or deserves the title "Reverend" -- is
someday going to have to repent of breaking the third
commandment!

The Most Common Sin of All

In teaching His disciples, and us as Christians, how to pray,
Jesus Christ set forth the right manner to approach Almighty God and
the attitude of reverence in which we should hold His office and His
name. In the opening phrases of what is commonly called "The Lord's
Prayer," our authorized translations of the Bible are most probably
falsely punctuated. After the invocation, "Our Father which art in
heaven" -- the approach of man to God -- there are three requests
linked together, and then a clause following which conditions all
three -- and not the last one only. The correct rendering would be as
follows: "Our Father which art in heaven, thy name be hallowed, thy
kingdom come, thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth." The
phrase "as in heaven, so on earth" has reference not merely to "thy
will be done," but to "thy kingdom come" and to "hallowed be thy
name."

These thoughts contained in what is called the Lord's Prayer --
the hallowing of God's name, the coming of His kingdom, and the doing
of His will -- are simply different phases of the same thing. For a
man hallows God's name by submission to His kingdom and government,
and by doing His will and obeying His laws.

Simply holding the phonetic sound of God's name in reverence is
only a small part of fulfillment of the third commandment.

Jesus asked: "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the
things which I say?" (Luke 6:46.) Prayer without obedience is a
subtle form of blasphemy!

The supposedly religious people who talk about religion and God
but refuse to obey His Word and His law are guilty of greater sin
than the man who admittedly goes the way of the flesh and at least
refuses to pretend otherwise. The hypocrisy of religious
denominations and religious people is infinitely worse than the
profanity of the street. Praise offered to God which is counteracted
by rebellion against His ways and His laws is certainly blasphemy --
and it is taking the name of God in vain!

A man or minister who preaches and prays with eloquence and a
devotional attitude, but then proceeds to breaks the least of God's
commandments (Matt. 5:19) -- that man blasphemes when he prays! But
even if he deceives the world, he never deceives God!

Speaking of the "religionists" of His day who refuse complete
obedience to the will and law of God, Jesus declared: "This people
honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is FAR FROM ME. Howbeit
IN VAIN do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments
of men" (Mark 7:6-7). In like manner, many today profess God with
their lips, but their worship is vain!

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into
the kingdom of heaven; but he that DOETH THE WILL of my Father which
is in heaven" (Matt. 7:21).

May God grant you the willingness to obey His will and law! May
you learn to worship Him in spirit and in truth. May you learn to
honor and reverence His great name -- for it represents His creative
power, His wisdom, His faithfulness, His love and kindness and
patience and infinite mercy. It represents the character and office
and dignity of the great God who sits at the controls of the
universe!

THE FOURTH
COMMANDMENT

Why were you born? What is the meaning of your life? What is the
true goal of life -- and what are the laws of life by which that goal
can be attained?

How much time do you spend each week in considering these most
important questions? Most people are so busy with the day-to-day
cares of making ends meet that they devote almost no time at all to
the spiritual issues of life. If questioned about Bible study or
prayer, most people reply that "there just isn't enough time" for
these religious activities.

Because he is so engrossed with his job during the day, and with
television, movies, parties and sports in the evenings and on
weekends, the average American is totally lacking in even a
rudimentary knowledge of his own religious beliefs. And he is
childishly ignorant of the fundamental truths of the Bible -- so much
so that a survey showed that the average American is unable even to
name the four Gospels correctly!

God seems far away to him. The Bible is "for old folks and
preachers" to read and understand. Yet he proclaims t hat he "hopes
to do better" someday. The big question is-when? When will he take
the time to really get to know God? When will he take time to study
his Bible, to pray earnestly to the Creator as his Father, to
meditate on the laws and purposes of life?

For most people, the true answer will probably be "never" --
unless they learn to obey the fourth commandment of Almighty God!
Obedience to this little-understood commandment is a powerful factor
in bringing the lives of men and women close to the Creator God --
and to His blessings and direct guidance.

The Fourth Commandment Stated

In the first three sections of this booklet, we discussed the
prevalent sin of putting another god in place of the true God. We
learned that God commands us to worship Him directly and to avoid
using any image, picture or physical object to "remind" us of the
great Creator, or as an "aid" to worship. And we were warned against
the vain use of the name of Almighty God, which stands for His
position, His character, His power, His office as the great Ruler of
this entire universe.

The fourth commandment completes the first section of the
Decalogue which deals with man's relationship to God. It provides for
the perpetual observance of a sign of the relationship between God
and man. "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt
thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath
of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy
son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy
cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days
the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and
rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day,
and hallowed it" (Ex. 20:8-11).

This command is, in its wording, the longest of any of the ten. It
is placed, protectively as it were, in the very midst of the Ten
Commandments. Yet, sad to say, it is the one command about which men
"reason" and argue most and which they would most quickly tear
asunder and try to separate from the rest of God's law.

Notice that it starts out with the injunction to "remember." This
very statement proves that the Sabbath command was ALREADY understood
by God's chosen people and that, in incorporating it as part of His
covenant, God was REMINDING them of a spiritual command of which they
already had knowledge.

"REMEMBER the sabbath day, to KEEP it holy." You cannot "keep"
cold water hot! And mortal MEN cannot make anything holy. Therefore,
to fully grasp the significance of this divine command, we need to
learn WHO made the Sabbath day holy and WHEN!

Jesus said: "The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the
sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath" (Mark
2:27-28). Notice that Jesus said the Sabbath day was "MADE." Whatever
was made has a Maker.

Note also that Jesus did not say that the Sabbath was made only
for the Jewish people, but for MAN -- for all mankind, in other
words. Then He stated that He -- Christ -- is "Lord" of the Sabbath.
In this statement, He claims to be -- not the destroyer -- but the
LORD of the Sabbath. In His human life, Jesus kept the Sabbath, and
many verses in the four Gospels are devoted to His instructions to
the disciples in how it should be kept, and in freeing it from the
traditions which the Jews had added.

But, before continuing, let us answer the question: "Who made the
Sabbath day?"

Who Made the Sabbath?

In understanding the command to remember the Sabbath day and keep
it holy, and in understanding who made the Sabbath in the first
place, we need to turn to an account of the very beginning of God's
creation. The New Testament gives such an account in the first
chapter of the Gospel according to John. "In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. ALL THINGS WERE MADE BY HIM; and without
him was not any thing made that was made" (John 1:1-3). Here we find
Jesus Christ described as the "Word" (or "Spokesman," as the original
Greek may more properly be rendered). This passage reveals that Jesus
has been with the Father from the beginning, and that all things were
made by Him -- by Jesus Christ! As the second person in the Godhead,
the Father used HIM as the instrument through whom the creation was
brought into being. The apostle Paul was inspired to speak of how God
"created ALL THINGS by Jesus Christ" (Eph. 3:9). In Hebrews, we find
Christ described as the Son of God, "whom he hath appointed heir of
all things, by whom also he made the worlds" (Hub. 1:2).

These and many other scriptures show that He was the person in the
Godhead who later became Jesus Christ, who actually carried out the
job of creation! He was the one who said: "Let there be light," and
there WAS light. He was the one who created man -- and set him on
this earth in the garden of Eden.

So speaking of Him in particular who did the creating, the
inspired writer of Genesis states: "And on the SEVENTH day God ended
his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all
his work which he had made. AND GOD BLESSED THE SEVENTH DAY, AND
SANCTIFIED IT: because that in it he had rested from all his work
which God created and made" (Gen. 2:2-3).

Jesus said that the Sabbath was made FOR man. Here we see that the
Sabbath was made WHEN man was made. And it was made BY the very
divine person who later became Jesus Christ! It was made as an
intrinsic part of the environment which surrounded man and which God
made in the seven days of creation. Notice that God "blessed" the
SEVENTH day and "sanctified" it. Such an honor was not conferred on
any of the preceding six days. When God blesses something, He bestows
His divine favor upon, and His divine presence in that thing. The
very word "sanctify" means to SET APART for holy use or purpose.
Thus, we see that in the very act of creation, the Almighty God put
His divine favor upon, and set apart for holy use and purpose, a
certain space of the most enduring thing there is -- time.

The Sabbath Is a Blessing

Certainly this insight into the background of the Sabbath gives
added meaning to God's command: "REMEMBER the sabbath day, to KEEP it
holy." Through Jesus Christ, God made the seventh day of the week
holy -- and on His authority as our Creator He commands us to keep it
that way!

The Sabbath, then, is holy time. Yet it was made FOR man -- as a
great blessing to all mankind!

Our Creator knew that we would need a period of rest and worship
every seventh day, and this is the basic purpose for which the
Sabbath was created. Each of us tends to become overly absorbed in
our daily cares and work and pleasure during the week. Our Creator
foresaw this, and set apart His Sabbath day as a consecrated time
when we can completely forget our daily routine and draw closer to
the Creator God in study, meditation and prayer. Modern man
desperately needs this period of time in which to have real communion
with his Maker and God. Taking time to think about God and to worship
Him, to pray, to study and meditate upon the purpose for human
existence, and upon God's revealed laws of life -- all this adds
great strength and meanings to man's life the other six days of the
week.

The Sabbath is one of the greatest blessings that has ever been
bestowed upon the human family!

The Command Expounded

Understanding that the Sabbath command is just as binding as the
commandments against murder and adultery, let us proceed to analyze
and expound this commandment of God and its application to our
personal lives today.

Except for the explanatory and expository statements, the fourth
commandment consists of two basic injunctions: First, "Remember the
sabbath day, to keep it holy." Second, "Six days shalt thou labour,
and do all thy work."

It is by the authority of God that the first six days of the week
are appointed for man's business and labor. It is the will of God
that man should work and earn his daily bread. He who idles away his
time in the six days is equally guilty in the sight of God as the one
who works on the seventh! The idle person is ordinarily clothed with
rags, and his idle mind and hands lead him into many wretched vices
and sins.

This second part of the Sabbath command is just as binding as the
first! He who never works is totally unfitted for worship! The
honest, purposeful work of the six days is in itself an act of
worship and obedience to God.

Man is placed in a world that contains all that is necessary for
his physical being, but to obtain it he must work! It is part of the
original intention of God, for man was placed in the garden of Eden
"to dress it and to keep it" (Gen. 2:15).

However, in like manner, he who never pauses from his daily
business and pursuits to worship as God has commanded on the seventh
day which God has made holy and set apart is -- through lack of
contact with his Maker -- rendered incapable of his highest potential
achievement in work, in service and in the joy of accomplishment.

Since the very Creator has so commanded, we can keep the Sabbath
day of rest and spiritual rejuvenation with complete confidence that
God will bless and prosper us, because we have done this!

A Paid Vacation

Normally speaking, if you would quit working every few days to
take a needed rest, you might naturally expect to get behind with
your work and finances. But God Himself has set in motion a great
law. God's Ten Commandments are living, active laws -- just like the
law of gravity. They are in operation -- they work automatically. The
law of the Sabbath backed up by the very power of the Creator -- says
that if you will pause to rest and worship Almighty God on the
seventh day every week, you will be so blessed during the work of the
six days that this will more than make up for what you might have
accomplished by laboring on God's Sabbath! Do you realize what this
amounts to? In one way of looking at it, God is giving us a paid
vacation every seventh day!

But this vacation is not only for the purpose of physical rest, it
is also a time for worship, for spiritual rededication, for the
contemplation and exercise of the spiritual purposes and laws of life
which God has set. In the observance of the seventh day which God has
made holy -- and which alone points to creation -- man is brought
into close communion with his Maker and his God. For God's very
presence as well as His divine blessing are especially evident in
this day which He has set apart and sanctified.

These are the busiest days that humanity has ever seen. These are
days in which most men seem to have little or no time for the
contemplation of the spiritual purposes and goals of life -- the most
important questions which man ought to be considering.

The tremendous blessing of God's true Sabbath is that it enables
man to take time to fully consider and weigh these most important of
all questions in life -- and to commune with his God and Creator in a
way in which few men in this age have ever experienced. The true
observance of the Sabbath would keep man in contact with God! Without
that contact, he is cut off from the very purpose of his existence,
from the laws that govern his success or failure in life, from an
understanding of what he is, where he is going and how to get there.
Without this contact with the Creator God, the life of man is
emptiness, frustration and a thing of vanity. In this age above all
others, man needs the contact with God, the spiritual strength and
understanding, and the divine blessing and guidance which proper
observance of God's true Sabbath provides.

Jesus' Example

Jesus Christ -- the inspired example of how every true Christian
ought to live-taught by His own life and actions that the Sabbath is
a holy convocation (commanded assembly) for God's people as is taught
in Leviticus 23:3. Jesus' example and customary practice is recorded
in Luke 4:16, where we read that Jesus, "as his custom was ... went
into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read."

Certainly the true Sabbath is a day for the united worship and
adoration of God by His called servants. And it is a time for the
preaching and expounding of God's Word and His living laws. It is the
duty of every true Christian, then, to find out where that Church is
in which he can really worship God "in spirit and in truth," a Church
which properly observes the true Sabbath of the Creator God, and a
Church in which man is taught to "live by EVERY word of God."

There are several churches which believe in keeping the fourth
commandment. But most of these churches -- in their teaching and
practice -- directly break one or more of the other commandments.
Jesus founded only one Church (Matt. 16:18), and it alone keeps all
of God's commandments.

You need to find out about this Church. Write immediately for the
informative FREE booklet "This Is the Worldwide Church of God". We
also offer you personal services to help you understand where God's
Church is and to help you with any questions you may have. The
Worldwide Church of God has ministers available in all parts of the
United States and many other parts of the world, ready to counsel
with you personally to answer any questions you may have about the
Church or how to keep the Sabbath. Of course, none of these men will
call on you uninvited. But, if you of your own volition want to
discuss these vital subjects with a qualified and dedicated servant
of God, please write and let us know. We'd be happy to send our men
to see you.

Rejoice in God's Sabbath

Learn to keep the Sabbath in a positive way! Use the seventh day
that God has sanctified and made holy as He has intended -- to rest
from worldly labor, to pray, to study and to meditate on God's Word
and the purpose for human existence. Take time to do good to others,
to care for the sick, to visit the afflicted. Assemble with other
true Christians on the Sabbath if this is possible.

The seventh day and that day alone which God made holy is the
commanded and God-blessed time for rest, for worship and for
contemplation of the vital keys to the meaning of life.

If you have any doubt whatsoever about on which day the Sabbath
should be observed, write for our free, fully illustrated booklet
"Which Day Is the Christian Sabbath?"

Properly understood and properly observed, the fourth commandment
-- the keeping of God's holy Sabbaths one of the greatest blessings
that the Creator has ever bestowed upon the children of men! It is an
identifying sign between, man and the true God. Remember it -- keep
it holy!

THE FIFTH
COMMANDMENT

Youthful violence and insolence characterize the age in which we
live. Broken homes are increasing. Teenage crime is literally
skyrocketing!

One of America's most respected authorities on juvenile problems,
Judge Samuel S. Leibowitz, set out to find the answer to the
frustration of America's youth. He decided to go to the Western
nation with the lowest reported incidence of juvenile crime, Italy.
He sought the reason from police and school officials throughout the
nation. From every part of Italy, he received the same answer: Young
people in Italy respect authority.

Judge Leibowitz had to go into Italian homes to find out WHY. He
found that even in the poorest home, the wife and children respect
and honor the father as its head. He found that the modern
do-as-you-please, permissive world does not really make a child happy
and balanced. Rather, a child wants the solid walls of discipline and
rules around him, defining his world -- telling him exactly how far
he can go.

Just as will be expected of him in the adult world, a child must
be disciplined to do things he does not necessarily want to do. From
babyhood, a child must be taught to respect and obey his parents.

Judge Leibowitz concluded his investigations with a nine-word
solution to juvenile delinquency: Put father back at the head of the
family.

The remarkable answer to juvenile problems given by this eminent
authority goes deeper than might be realized. For it goes to the very
source of the problem: A lack of deep seated respect for constituted
authority beginning in infancy and continuing throughout life.

This problem has its origin in childhood -- in the home! Long
before a child is even aware of the existence of the church, the
school, the nation, he is forming attitudes and habits toward those
who are his superiors in the nursery, the home, and the neighborhood.
Developed from infancy, this part of a child's character will
undoubtedly affect his thoughts and actions for the rest of his
natural life!

The Fifth Commandment Stated

The first four commandments define man's relationship with God.
They teach us the magnitude of God's power and name -- and exhort us
to remember Him as Creator of all that is.

The fifth commandment is placed first among those which govern our
human relationships. It is not only chief in importance among these,
when we understand its full meaning, but it acts as a "bridge"
between the two sections of God's law. For true obedience to the
fifth commandment is inevitably linked with obedience and honor
toward God Himself! Our Creator knew this when He inspired it to be
"the first commandment with promise."

"Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon
the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee."

Why honor our parents?

The true answer reveals the depth of this commandment and its true
import. If only every parent on earth might come to realize the
tremendous influence upon a child's later life that automatically
comes as a direct result of obedience or disobedience to this
God-given command!

This commandment is one of the ten great points of God's eternal,
spiritual law. Under the Old Testament dispensation, the penalty for
directly and flagrantly violating this law was death! "He that
smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death ....
And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to
death" (Ex. 21:15,17). That is how important this command is in God's
eyes!

The home and the family unit are the basis of all decent society.
And the relationship of children to their parents is an exact type of
the spiritual relationship between true Christians and God. The
lessons of character learned in that relationship may last children
the rest of their lives -- and for eternity!

In the eyes of a small child, a parent stands in the place of God
Himself. For the loving and affectionate parent is the child's
provider, protector, teacher and lawgiver. A child's early training
and response to this relationship will in large measure determine his
later response to the larger relationships with society. And,
ultimately, it is certain to affect his relationship with his
spiritual Father in heaven.

Honor and Respect for Parents

The New Testament magnifies this command in many places. The
apostle Paul wrote: "Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for
this is right. Honour thy father and thy mother; (which is the first
commandment with promise)" (Eph. 6:1-2). The original command to
honor father and mother applies to all of us throughout our lives.
But in this place children specifically are told to obey their
parents "in the Lord."

Because of his total lack of experience and judgment, it is
absolutely necessary that a child be taught to obey his parents
instantly and without question. Explanations and reasons for this may
and should be given to the child from time to time. But, at the
moment a parental command is given, there may not be time or
opportunity to give the reason why!

Therefore it is imperative that a child be taught the habit of
unquestioning obedience to his parents. For, until the young child
develops, his parents stand to him in the place of God. And God holds
them responsible for teaching and directing the child properly.

Obedience "in the Lord"

By direct implication, a parent is bound by the fifth commandment
to make himself honorable. For to be honored, one must be honorable.
Every parent needs to realize that he represents God to his child! He
should live a life worthy of the child's deep respect and reverence.
Then he should teach his child to honor and respect both of his
parents.

As the child matures, the parent should instruct his child about
the existence of the great spiritual Father of all life, the Creator
of heaven and earth, the sovereign Ruler of the universe -- Almighty
God. Christian parents should teach their children to honor and obey
their spiritual Father with even more implicit faith and love than
they do their earthly parents. For the greatest lesson that a child
or anyone can be taught is that of fear and obedience to the One who
set in motion all life in the first place! Thus, a child will be
taught the habit of obedience. He will learn to respect authority. In
due time, if his mind is opened to know the Supreme Father of all
life, he will already have learned the very basis of God's character
-- loving obedience to God, and deep respect and reverence for all
law and constituted authority.

Blessing for Obedience

The apostle Paul reemphasizes the blessing attached to the fifth
commandment: "That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live
long on the earth" (Eph. 6:3). Obedience to the fifth commandment
automatically results in the buildings of habits and character which
tend to long life. A young person so trained will avoid the
recklessness, the violence, the wrong companionships and the
rebellion against authority which often result in untimely death.
And, in its ultimates meaning, those who learn to respect and obey
their parents and later -- because of this training -- God Himself,
will certainly "live long on the earth." For, as Jesus said: "Blessed
are the meek [the humble and obedient]: for they shall
inherit the earth" (Matt. 5:5).

There are also many everyday blessings to the obedient child.
Certainly not the least of these is a sense of security. As Judge
Leibowitz pointed out, a child is confused unless he isn't told the
bounds of his activities. But if a child is told what those bounds
are by his parents -- and stays within them -- he is then relieved of
the responsibility which he innately realizes his parents must
shoulder.

Frustration is another problem which is alleviated. The
disobedient child is a frustrated child -- for his mind is constantly
plagued with feelings of guilt and rebellion. A child who loves,
honors and obeys his parents is a blessed child indeed. He will tend
to live a more truly happy, carefree and purposeful life. And in his
spiritual life, he will pass through the natural and beautiful
sequence from the honoring of his parents to the joyful worshiping of
his God!

Thus far we have dealt primarily with the application of the fifth
commandment to children and young people. But the original command to
"honor" our parents is not addressed to children -- but to
everyone.

Even Adults Should Honor Their Parents

The time may come when it is no longer necessary or right that a
person should strictly obey his parents. But the day should never
come when he ceases to honor them. The word "honor" has a much larger
meaning than that of obedience. It indicates a high respect, as for
worth, merit or rank. It denotes a feeling of high esteem and
reverence.

A person who has properly obeyed his parents in childhood later
expresses his honor for them in a deeper appreciation of the comforts
and training they provided him as a child. This honor expresses
itself in courtesy, thoughtfulness and kind deeds.

As we mature, it becomes increasingly evident that untold hours of
work, of anxious thought and agonized prayer were bestowed for our
welfare by faithful and loving parents. It should become the delight
of every decent man and woman to return this love which our parents
showered on us.

In the evening of life, many parents long for this affection and
fellowship with their children more, perhaps, than for any other
blessing. Let us think and act on this opportunity to return the love
our parents so freely gave!

To the everlasting shame of our professing Christian society,
thousands of elderly parents are reduced to living on a mere pittance
that comes to them through governmental agencies. In all too many
cases, the children are able but simply unwilling to provide
additional comforts for their parents.

Jesus Christ gave one of the most forceful interpretations of the
fifth commandment in its application to this very problem. In His
day, men were excusing themselves from providing for the necessities
of their parents. They were saying that funds which might have been
used in this way were "Corban" -- that is, dedicated to the service
of the altar. These funds were not part of God's tithe, but rather an
additional offering which was used to gain favor in approaching God.
Reproaching these hypocritical religionists, Jesus said: "Full well
ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own
tradition. For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and,
Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death" (Mark
7:9-10).

Now notice how these hypocrites "reasoned" their way around this
commandment! Jesus continued: "But ye say, If a man shall say to his
father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever
thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. And ye suffer him
no more to do ought for his father or his mother; making the word of
God of none effect through your tradition ..." (verses 11-13).

Jesus condemned these hypocrites. His words plainly teach that a
Christian must give material and financial assistance to his aged
parents if it is possible and their needs so require. He must not
excuse himself by saying that all his extra funds are "dedicated to
God"!

This is a part of our obedience to the fifth commandment.

Jesus' Own Personal Example

Jesus Christ LIVED the message He taught. His own personal life is
a dramatic illustration of OBEDIENCE to the fifth commandment.

Just before His death, Jesus said: "I have kept my Father's
commandments" (John 15:10). Through obedience to His heavenly Father,
and to his human parents as well, Jesus grew in wisdom and maturity
even as a youth.

Even in His dying moments, while suffering one of the most
agonizing deaths ever devised by men, Jesus honored and loved His
mother to the very end. Just before He died one the stake, John
records: "When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple
standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold
thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from
that hour that disciple took her unto his own home" (John
19:26-27).

Here Jesus made final provision for His mother to be taken care of
by John after His death. At a time when the thoughts of all other men
would have been of SELF, Jesus still remembered the fifth commandment
and extended love and honor to the woman who bore Him, who nourished
Him from infancy, who taught Him from the Scriptures, and who now
stood in this awful place -- unashamed -- weeping at His death.

Remember the PERFECT EXAMPLE of Jesus Christ! "Honour thy father
and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the
Lord thy God giveth thee."

THE SIXTH
COMMANDMENT

This is an age of hate and violence. It is an age of intense,
competition, strife and personal tensions.

The nations of the earth -- and the individuals within them -- are
conditioning their minds and consciences to the likelihood of
wholesale murder and possibly world suicide. Naturally, this
situation is devastating to the spiritual principles and ideals of
our people. The effect of this is being felt now -- even as you read
this booklet.

We have seen the blessings that come through awe and respect for
the one true God, through reverencing His name and office, through
hallowing His Sabbath day and keeping it in the true knowledge of
Him, and through honoring our fathers and mothers in their high
office which directly reflects God's Fatherhood and love for all
creation. In all these commandments, we have seen love and wisdom and
blessings. And so it is with the sixth commandment.

Amid the thunder and lightning and literal shaking of Mount Sinai,
God's voice THUNDERED the sixth commandment: "Thou shalt not murder"
(Exodus 20:13, Jewish Publication Society translation). Biblical
authorities agree that "murder" is a more correct reading of the
original inspired Hebrew than the word "kill." For it is possible to
kill and yet not to murder. And it is important to understand that
only the letter of God's law was given to ancient Israel, whereas
Christians are to live by the spirit and fullest intent of that law
as magnified by Christ Himself.

Under the original letter of the law, it was intentional killing
or murder which was forbidden. Remember that in this same "book of
the covenant" given to Israel, God commanded them to kill or execute
those guilty of major crimes (Ex. 21:12-17). Also, the instructions
in Numbers 35:9-34 show that accidental killing was not regarded as
murder. Even here, though, manslaughter was obviously a terrible
offense -- and the careless or unwitting slayer had to remain in a
city of refuge for perhaps many years until the high priest died.

Just as capital punishment was commanded by God for serious crimes
under the letter of the law, so the commanded wars of Israel should
be viewed not as acts of wholesale murder but the carrying out of the
divine will through human instruments. Notice in Deuteronomy 7:1-2
that God directly commanded Israel to exterminate the heathen tribes
in the land of Canaan. This was not humanly devised warfare nor was
it personal vengeance or malice. It was the express will of Almighty
God who gives life -- and who alone has the right to say when it
shall be taken.

Incidentally, it should be noted that the history of the time
indicates that these nations occupying Canaan were absolutely wicked
in the extreme -- and were burning alive their own children in human
sacrifice to their pagan gods. This was part of the intelligent
reason why the Creator ordered their extermination at that time.
Notice that in all these cases where God permitted man to take life,
it was only as His agent -- at His express will.

God's original purpose was that man should learn not to kill. And
although it was permitted in certain instances to the carnal,
unconverted people of Israel, we shall see that God is now developing
in His Spirit-begotten children the character to love, to serve and
to save life -- not to destroy it.

The Source of Life

"And God said, Let us make man in OUR IMAGE, after OUR LIKENESS:
and let them have DOMINION ..."(Gen. 1:26). Man is given life by his
Creator. He did not give it to himself. Neither may he take it from
himself -- or from others. Life is sacred because it is God-given.
Man has been made in the very image and likeness of God. Of all the
physical creation, only man has the type of mind that God possesses.
God is the Ruler of all that is. But out of human flesh He is forming
literal sons who will someday share in that rule. So God said: "Let
them have dominion ...."

Man needs experience in order to develop the character God
purposes for him. Experience requires time. And a man's life consists
of just so much time. God gave that life for the supreme purpose of
preparing another son to be in His kingdom and family forever.

The giving of life and breath and ability includes all. It is the
most wonderful gift of which physical man has knowledge. The taking
of life ends all. It cruelly and unexpectedly crushes all the hopes
and dreams and plans of a man made in the very image of the Creator
Himself. It is a wicked usurpation by man of a prerogative belonging
to God alone who gives life in the first place -- and who alone has
the authority to take it away (Job 1:21). That is why ANY form of
murder is one of the ten great sins. It is destroying the highest
creation of Almighty God! In effect, it is an attempt to thwart the
very purpose of the great sovereign Ruler of the universe! The Giver
of all life is God. And puny, mortal man has no business whatsoever
interfering with God's GREATEST GIFT!

Personal Application of the Commandment

Jesus Christ came into this world to "magnify" God's law and "make
it honorable" (Isa. 42:21). Jesus cast a spotlight, as it were, on
the Ten Commandments, and showed their real spiritual intent and
meaning in the full Christian life. Jesus said: "Ye have heard that
it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever
shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: BUT I SAY UNTO YOU,
that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in
danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca,
shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou
fool, shall be in danger of hell fire" (Matt. 5:21-22).

Here murder is traced to its source hate and anger. Christ
declared that if personal anger fills the heart of one of His
subjects, such a person is in danger of judgment. If that anger leads
a man to have utter derision and contempt for his fellow human being,
that man shall be "in danger of the council" -- of God's punishment.
If in bitterness and scorn a man shall say of his fellow, "Thou
fool," such a man shall be "in danger of hell fire."

THIS is Jesus Christ's application of the sixth commandment to you
and me. If we harbor hate and anger in our hearts, we are harboring
the spirit of murder. Action follows thought. First we think, then we
do! The Spirit of Christ guides us not only to control our actions,
but to control our thoughts and our attitudes. In part, the New
Covenant is the process of God writing His law in our hearts and
minds (Heb. 8:10).

God spoke through Paul: "Dearly beloved, avenge NOT yourselves,
but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is
mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" (Rom. 12:19). Man is incapable of
taking vengeance with proper wisdom and justice for all concerned.
God alone has the wisdom and power and the right to take vengeance on
human beings -- to the extent of executing them if need be. The true
Christian must learn that God is real -- and that His protection and
His vengeance are just as real!

How, then, should you deal with your enemies? "Therefore if thine
enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing
thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil,
but overcome evil with good" (verses 20-21).

It takes real strength of character to help and serve your fellow
human being when he has directly tried to harm you! It takes the
spiritual wisdom to realize that he is a fellow human being, made in
the image of God, and simply misguided for the time being in his
thoughts and actions.

Humanity's Greatest Crime

Perhaps the greatest international crime of humanity is the
scourge of war. Millions of human lives created in the image of God
have been mercilessly slaughtered down through the ages in useless,
senseless, idiotic wars which in most cases failed utterly to
accomplish their stated purpose!

The spirit of God's law as magnified by Jesus Christ is totally
opposed to every form of war! Nearly all the really great religious
and political leaders of the world have acknowledged the utter
futility of war. Before the outbreak of World War II, Pope Pius XII
declared: "Everything is gained by peace; nothing is gained by war."
One of the most respected statesmen and military leaders of our time,
General Douglas MacArthur, stated: "Men since the beginning of time
have sought peace ... military alliances, balances of powers, leagues
of nations, all in turn failed, leaving the only path to be by way of
the crucible of war. The utter destructiveness of war now blots out
this alternative. We have had our last chance. If we will not devise
some greater and equitable system, our Armageddon will be at our
door. The problem basically is theological and involves a spiritual
recrudescence, an improvement of human character that will
synchronize with our almost matchless advances in science, art,
literature, and all material and cultural developments of the past
two thousand years. It must be of the spirit if we are to save the
flesh."

Humanity's "last chance" is to repent of the sin of war before
human annihilation removes every vestige of life from this planet!
General MacArthur acknowledged that the problem we face is
theological -- it is a Christian problem involving a true knowledge
of the true God! He went on to say that it involves "an improvement
of human character."

The greatest statesman of all times was Jesus Christ. He was the
Spokesman for the government or Kingdom of God. Christ said: "Ye have
heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate
thine enemy. But I say unto you, LOVE YOUR ENEMIES, bless them that
curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which
despitefully use you, and persecute you" (Matt. 5:43-44).

There is a great deal of highly respectable, cultured and educated
paganism abroad in the world today under the name of "Christianity."
But can even this sophisticated paganism face these clear words of
Jesus Christ without confessing that His life, His teaching, and His
Spirit condemn the very essence of war? More lives have been snuffed
out prematurely, more suffering has been endured, more homes have
been wrecked and broken, more time and property has been utterly
wasted because of the scourge of war than through any other means in
the history of man! And war has never solved the problems of men or
brought permanent peace. Instead, it only breeds more war! "For all
they that take the sword shall PERISH with the sword" (Matt.
26:52).

The Bible Teaching

Jesus Christ came into this world as a messenger of the government
or kingdom of God. He took no part in this world's politics or wars.
On trial for His very life before Pontius Pilate, He said: "My
kingdom is not of this world: If my kingdom were of this world, then
would my servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews:
But now is my kingdom not from hence" (John 18:36).

As we have stated, only God who gave life has the right to take
life. Therefore, only God has the right to wage war! And, as Jesus
taught, God does not choose to have His children wage war for Him
during this age.

Jesus said that His servants would fight if His kingdom were of
this world. But it is not.

Through the apostle James, God shows that war results from a type
of spirit exactly opposite that which He wants His servants to have.
"From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence,
even of your lusts that war in your members? You lust, and have not:
Ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: Ye fight and war, yet
ye have not, because ye ask not" (James 4:1-2).

God's Government Will End War

Jesus Christ came preaching the good news of the government or
rule of God. That rule is based on the Ten Commandments -- God's
spiritual law. Jesus magnified that law and showed its spiritual
intent and purpose. He taught that if, we even hate our brother, we
are spiritually guilty of murder! Jesus taught that men should obey
the laws of God and prepare for His coming Kingdom by yielding
themselves to let God's laws -- His character -- be placed within
them.

When God's government does come very soon now to this earth, His
law will go forth as the standard of conduct of all nations (Micah
4:1-2). At that time, God alone will wage war to punish rebellious
nations in perfect wisdom and justice. As for the peoples of the
world themselves? "Nation shall not lift up a sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore" (verse 3).

War involves learning to hate and kill. Young men will no longer
be forced to learn an attitude which is diametrically opposed to the
rule of God's law of love.

Dwight D. Eisenhower once said: "Man's hope for world peace does
not rest in opposing armed camps, but in an idea. That idea is the
concept of a rule of law as the means of settling disputes among
sovereign states." Whether this former President realized it or not,
he pointed up the fact that only the government of God based on His
laws will solve the problems of men and nations!

But meanwhile, true Christians must work and pray for God's
Kingdom of peace, and we must realize that the spirit of war is the
spirit of murder -- and avoid it with all of our strength.

Speaking before the League of Nations, Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick
put this thought in a very powerful way: "We cannot reconcile Jesus
Christ and war -- that is the essence of the matter. That is the
challenge which today should stir the conscience of Christendom. War
is the most colossal and ruinous social sin that afflicts mankind, it
is utterly and irremediably unchristian; in its total method and
effect it means everything that Jesus did not mean and it means
nothing that He did mean; it is a more blatant denial of every
Christian doctrine about God and man than all the theoretical
atheists on earth ever could devise. It would be worth while, would
it not, to see the Christian Church claim as her own this greatest
moral issue of our time, to see her lift once more as in our fathers'
days, a clear standard against the paganism of this present world
and, refusing to hold her conscience at the beck and call of
belligerent states, put the kingdom of God above nationalism and call
the world to peace. That would not be the denial of patriotism but
its apotheosis."

The essence of the matter is that Jesus Christ is against the
spirit of murder in every form. He is against war -- and someday He
will put an end to it forever! He is against all malice and envy and
hate. Jesus Christ taught the dignity of man and the sacredness of
human life -- "Created in the image of God."

And the great Father of Jesus Christ, the Almighty God who governs
the universe from His throne in heaven -- that God thunders at an age
of violence and rebellion: "Thou shalt not murder."

THE SEVENTH
COMMANDMENT

Is "sexual compatibility" the all-important thing in marriage? In
this age of broken homes, juvenile delinquency and modern psychology,
many will say that the answer is "yes".

But the fact remains that the more "modern" theories about
marriage are put into practice, the faster the divorce rate climbs
and the more little children are doomed to grow up without the
blessing of a stable, happy home. It is a painful fact that almost
one out of three marriages in America ends in the divorce courts.

The marriages end -- but the suffering and anguish and grief do
not. For the little children of such broken homes, the years of
frustration and emptiness are only beginning.

Is there a real meaning to marriage that modern man needs to
understand? Are there God-given laws and principles that can
safeguard a Christian marriage and make it happy and purposeful?

The Seventh Commandment Stated

The Creator God devoted two of His ten great spiritual laws -- the
Ten Commandments -- to protecting the relationships in the home and
family. In this booklet, we have already discussed the first of
these: "Honour thy father and thy mother ...."

The other law directly governing the home and family is contained
in the seventh commandment: "Thou shalt not commit adultery" (Ex.
20:14). Almighty God gave this commandment to protect the honor and
sanctity of marriage. Immediately after the sixth command, which
declares the sacredness of human life, God gives this law to
safeguard the highest earthly relationship. For marriage and the home
are the basis of all decent society. The

words of the command directly forbid adultery as violating the
sacred rights of the marriage relation. Its spirit makes evident the
fact that all unchaste conduct before marriage is a wrong done to the
future marriage, and unfaithfulness before marriage is violating the
command as much as adultery committed after marriage.

In this permissive modern age, it is important to remind ourselves
that God has promised to reward those who break this commandment with
the penalty of death. "And the man that committeth adultery with
another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his
neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be
PUT TO DEATH" (Lev. 20:10). The seventh commandment also covers in
principle all other forms of illicit sex, including male and female
homosexuality -- now an ENORMOUS SIN in the Western world -- which
also warranted the death penalty (Lev. 20:13).

Again, in the New Testament, God says: "For the wages of sin is
DEATH" (Rom. 6:23).

Why is the sin of adultery so great as to merit death, and, in
God's judgment, eternal death in the lake of fire -- unless really
repented of? The answer is this: Marriage is in God's sight such a
precious, righteous, holy thing that it must not be defiled! The
meaning of marriage and its great purpose in God's plan needs
DESPERATELY to be understood in this age of unhappy marriages and
broken homes.

The Purpose of Marriage

It is impossible to understand the true meaning of marriage
without first understanding that sex and marriage are God-given and
God-ordained. To leave God out of the picture -- as this modern age
is doing -- is to degrade the marriage union to mere animalism.
Notice GOD'S purpose in creating man and woman! "And the Lord God
said [after He had made only the man], It is not good that
the man should be alone; I will make an help meet for him" (Gen.
2:18). God saw that man was incomplete by himself, and so He decided
to make a help "meet" or SUITABLE for the man -- one with whom man
could really share his life.

So the first and primary purpose of marriage is to make man and
woman complete. Each is incomplete without the other. Man alone was
not able to fulfill the purpose for which God created him -- was not
able to learn the lessons of character which God intended -- and so
God created the woman as an "help" to the man. And, in the very
creation, God showed that they were to dwell together as man and wife
in one fleshly union -- to share everything in this life, and so make
their lives meaningful and complete in a physical sense at least.

The second purpose of sex and marriage is the begettal and
training of children. For God had told the man and woman: "Be
fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it ..."
(Gen. 1:28).

With begetting children comes the responsibility of protecting and
training them. A stable, happy home and marriage are indispensable to
the correct nurture and training of a child. And God commands: "Train
up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not
depart from it" (Prov. 22:6).

The home and family are the basis of all decent society! The
lessons of character learned in the home -- patience, understanding,
kindness -- all of these are qualities that God, wants in man for all
eternity, and the family relationship is one of the best places in
which they can be learned!

Better than in any other place, the lessons of decency, loyalty,
and a sense of responsibility are learned in a happy and
well-balanced home.

And so, in addition to making man complete and the begetting and
training of children a third great purpose in sex and marriage is the
building of character in the home and family relationship. The
kingdom and law of God are based on love. Jesus said: "It is more
blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35). To obey God's law of
marriage, man and wife must literally give themselves to each other
in every phase and facet of their lives.

Marriage Pictures Christ and His Church

As ordained by God, the marriage union is a holy thing. It is so
holy that in His Word Almighty God uses the marriage union as a type
of the relationship between Christ and His Church! Notice Ephesians
5:22-24: "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto
the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, EVEN AS Christ is
the head of, the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore
as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their
own husbands in every thing."

In this place, God shows that in the Christian home the wife is to
submit herself to her husband as the head of that home, just as she
must learn to submit to Christ Himself for all eternity! In this holy
relationship, she is learning a lesson of lasting faithfulness!

Then the husbands are addressed: "Husbands, LOVE your wives, even
as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it .... So
ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his
wife loveth himself" (verses 25, 28).

Jesus Christ served, helped, trained, protected and eventually
gave Himself for His Church. So are husbands to protect, to provide
for, to guide, to encourage, to love and give to their wives! A
Christian man is to be the head of his house. Yet he is to use that
office to serve and to give protection, guidance and happiness to his
wife and family. And Almighty God holds him responsible for being the
right kind of head!

Because of this great lesson and purpose in marriage, God says:
"For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be
joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh" (verse 31). In
the marriage union, man and woman are made one. Their relationship is
then to picture the eternal, loving and serving relationship of
Christ and His Church. Therefore, nothing should come between them.
The lesson of marriage is to teach us eternal faithfulness to Jesus
Christ as our Head! To separate from one's God-given mate is to fail
to learn the lesson which God intends for us to learn in marriage. It
is a reproach to Almighty God -- for it denies His wisdom in
ordaining the marriage union in making us truly "one flesh" with our
mate!

How can we ever be faithful to the living God throughout all
eternity if we selfishly refuse to be faithful to the mate to whom we
are bound in this life for only a few years and fail to learn the
lessons of patience, kindness, long-suffering, self-control, love and
faithfulness in the sacred marriage union?

The Teaching of Jesus Christ

Now it becomes increasingly clear why Jesus Christ taught the
enduring quality of the marriage vow.

When Jesus was asked by the hypocritical Pharisees why Moses
allowed divorce in Old Testament times, He answered: "Moses because
of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives:
but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, Whosoever
shall put away his wife, EXCEPT IT BE FOR FORNICATION, and shall
marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is
put away doth commit adultery" (Matt. 19:8-9).

Divorce generates divorce! A moment's reflection will recall that
the commonplace granting of divorces was absolutely unheard of only
fifty years ago. The religious leaders of that time and before warned
us that if divorce were once tolerated, there would be no restraint
powerful enough to keep it within the limits then fixed or foreseen.
Today we see the truth of this warning! We now behold the sad and
miserable spectacle of one-third, and in many areas as many as
one-half, of all marriages ending in failure in the divorce courts of
men!

And after divorce, what?

It is a matter of record that most divorced persons seek a second
mate, and many find a third or a fourth mate to satisfy a desire
which God intended should be satisfied and channeled to and uplifted
in the holy and sacred marriage with their first mate -- who in most
cases is still living at the time of the remarriage.

This is a pitiful spectacle and a national disgrace! Even though
God PERMITS divorce in certain instances, it is far better for each
marriage partner to learn to help and serve and FORGIVE the other,
and thus preserve the sacred marriage bond. Jesus' famous exception
clause, "except for fornication [PORNEIA]" (Matt. 19:9),
should be employed ONLY as a last resort and even then after much
prayer, counsel, and sincere attempts to save the marriage. And the
same would apply to the apostle Paul's permission for the Christian
to remarry if DESERTED by an unconverted mate (I Cor. 7:15).

Marriage Is Ordained of God

We now see that marriage is not something that just evolved
through the reasoning and gradual civilization of man. Rather,
marriage was ordained by the Creator God. He ordained it as a holy
union picturing the everlasting faithfulness between Christ and His
Church!

And every form of adultery is so very wrong and evil because
marriage is so holy and sacred in the sight of Almighty God. Adultery
is not only an offense to the aggrieved husband or wife involved; it
is an offense to their home and their children. It is an offense
against society -- because it strikes at the very BASIS of all decent
society. But, most of all, it is an offense against God Himself and
against an institution which He has ordained.

In America and Britain today, a God-rejecting society all too
often seeks a Hollywood-type romantic ideal in marriage. Thus men and
women are subtly encouraged to break the marriage covenant if their
selfish, sensual desires are not fulfilled with the wife or husband
of their youth. In a "marriage-go-round" society, they fail to learn
the basic lessons of character which marriage can and should teach --
outgoing concern for their mate, patience, mercy, humility, service
and lasting faithfulness. In addition, they fail to consider the
suffering and frustration of the children from their original
marriage -- the irreparable damage done to their lives and minds
which will carry over into yet future generations and future
marriages.

Truly, even though God ALLOWS some marriages and homes to be
shattered by divorce, it is something our Creator abhors. "For the
Lord, the God of Israel, saith that he HATETH putting away
[divorce] ..." (Mal. 2:16). Again: "... The Lord hath been
witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou
hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of
thy covenant" (verse 14).

No question, then, that God hates divorce -- even though He allows
it. To learn the lessons God intends in marriage, true Christians
should seek to literally "cleave" to their mates in body, mind and
attitude. They should seek earnestly to understand each other -- to
share freely and joyously their plans, their hopes, their dreams.
And, with God's help, they will crush any adulterous and lustful
thoughts which present themselves.

The sin of lust is more fully understood when you realize how
righteous and holy the proper use of sex in marriage is to Almighty
God the Creator. The process of adultery, and the process of divorce
and remarriage, usually begin in the heart. Notice how Jesus Christ
covered this point in magnifying the law of God and making it holy:
"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not
commit adultery: But I say unto you, that whosoever LOOKETH on a
woman TO LUST AFTER HER hath committed ADULTERY with her already in
his heart" (Matt. 5:27-28).

Jesus taught that you break the seventh commandment when you even
so much as entertain thoughts of sexual lust toward another person.
Action follows thought. So it is part of the development of Christian
character for every God-fearing person to learn to guide and to
channel his thoughts away from all lust and illicit desires.

Meanwhile, in the industries that control the most realistic,
lifelike media that influence and move young people to action --
movies and television -- the emphasis in an ever increasing number of
productions is upon sex or violence, or a combination of both.

But modern society is paying a terrible penalty for these
widespread sins and abominations! More and more homes are made
miserable and wretched because of adulterous relations of one or both
mates. Increasing numbers of homes are broken in divorce. More
children are being left without the love and guidance of both
parents! And illicit sexual intercourse before marriage -- called
"fornication" by God -- is becoming epidemic among young people in
today's society.

Yet any and all of these things constitute breaking the seventh
commandment!

Those young people who are cheapening and damaging the happiness
of their future marriages through illicit sex before marriage are
seriously injuring their entire future in this present life. And
unless they repent and stop this vile practice, they will force God
by an eternal necessity to exclude them from His Kingdom and
everlasting life and happiness (I Cor. 6:9). God's laws are always
for our own good and the good of those around us. They should be
obeyed. We should fear being counted with the "abominable" and
"whoremongers" who will have their part in the lake of fire which is
the second death! (Rev. 21:8.)

Obey the Seventh Commandment

God gives some important advice to those who are tempted to commit
fornication or adultery. In this age of sex stimulation and lust, it
is invaluable to HEED this advice if you would enter into the Kingdom
of God and eternal life. God says: "FLEE FORNICATION" (I Cor. 6:18).
He does not say to let your mind dwell honoring sexual ideas or
desires. He does not say to place yourself alone with another
person's mate or with a single person with whom you might be sexually
tempted. He does not say to watch movies or television or read books
which wrongly stimulate the sexual appetite.

God does say to get as far away from these things as you possibly
can! He says to run -- flee -- away from temptation to sexual sin.
Sex is not a toy to be played with and experimented with. It should
be regarded as a God-given blessing in the holy and sacred marriage
union which the Creator Himself has ordained. It should always be
thought of with reverence, and as an expression of unselfish love in
a Christian union which pictures the everlasting faithfulness of
Christ and His Church!

This generation needs desperately to learn the lesson of lasting
faithfulness in marriage and in the home! It needs to obey both the
letter and the spirit of God's seventh commandment: "Thou shalt not
commit adultery."

THE EIGHTH
COMMANDMENT

After the God of heaven thundered from the top of Mt. Sinai the
commandments ordaining the true worship of Him, and laws protecting
the most sacred human relationships -- the home, the family, and
human life itself -- God gave the eighth commandment. This is God's
law protecting all private property and possessions: "Thou shalt not
steal" (Ex. 20:15).

Because men do not think the God who gave this commandment is real
-- and do not fear to disobey His law -- we have more literal theft
than ever before. But we also violate the eighth commandment in
hundreds of ways through a watered-down system of morality.

After discussing some debased scheme by which to cheat a business
competitor or customer, executives shrug their shoulders and say:
"Well, that's just business." Or, after a meeting involving false
measurement, poor quality or misleading advertising, a businessman
will say: "What's the difference? If I don't do it, somebody else
will." When cheating the government or falsifying an income tax
return, the common American phrase to salve one's conscience is: "Let
Uncle Sam sweat this time. The government is taking too much money
anyway. So what?"

Yes, so what? Is that "just business"?

Well, it also happens to be God's business -- and He has set in
motion a law stating: "Thou shalt not steal." When you break God's
law -- it breaks you! For God's laws are living, active things --
like the law of gravity. When you transgress them, the punishment is
automatic -- and it is sure.

The Right to Property

According to God's Word and His law, there are only two right ways
by which you can come into possession of anything. The first is by a
free gift -- or an inheritance -- from another person, or from God
Himself. The second is by honest labor, which earns something as a
legitimate return. Any other way is theft -- the taking from another
that which belongs to him.

The eighth commandment recognizes the legitimate acquisition of
property, and forbids theft. It is important to note that, in
principle, the eighth commandment forbids all forms of communism
which deny man's right to property. It also forbids international
thievery in which governments forcibly confiscate and steal the
property and possessions of their own or other nations' citizens.
And, to our lasting shame, ALL nations stand guilty of breaking God's
law in this respect!

Young people today are learning to steal in an immensely large and
organized fashion. Not only are they purloining articles by the
thousands from stores, shops, schools and even churches, but they
regularly organize an intricate system of cheating on tests and exams
in schools and colleges. Because it is generally looked on without
too much alarm, this practice is growing at an unprecedented rate.
But what the young people may not have been told is that cheating is
taking a score or grade illegally -- and is stealing. It is directly
breaking the eighth commandment of God!

The industrialist or merchant who uses false weights and measures
or a poor quality of material or workmanship to deceive the public is
just as guilty of breaking the eighth commandment as a common thief!
He is trying to get something more than a legitimate return for his
product. Viewing the illegal profits he hopes to receive, he is
trying to get that extra something for nothing. In principle, he is
simply stealing! Yet, in how many thousands of cases this type of
lawlessness and deception is practiced, God alone knows.

Thievery Through False Advertising

One of the great commercial sins of our age is the common practice
of false advertising. The consumer is led to expect that a certain
"pill," for instance, will cause him to lose weight, gain weight,
increase his potency, restore his thinning hair, or whatever the case
may be. And, in most cases, this statement is a direct, willful lie
without any doubt.

Such a practice is, in effect, stealing from the people who pay
money to achieve the promised result.

In many cases, the victims of these gigantic frauds are not only
robbed of money, they are robbed of health, happiness and peace of
mind. Many a "respectable" businessman and community leader has
attained his position largely through this type of mass deception and
theft!

Our nations and peoples need to wake up! Just because a sin can be
made outwardly to appear "respectable," remember that God is the real
Judge.

The Almighty has this to say: "Know ye not that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither
fornicators ... nor THIEVES ... shall inherit the kingdom of God" (I
Cor. 6:9-10).

Lest any misunderstand, remember that it is God's will that His
servants prosper in material wealth -- as long as they gain it
honestly, and don't set their hearts upon it. The apostle John wrote:
"Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in
health, even as thy soul prospereth" (III John 2).

Tarnished Wealth

Moreover, we must realize that an industrialist's wealth which is
tarnished by an unnecessarily high death rate in his plants or
factories is ill-gotten gain -- and he is branded in the light of
God's law as a thief, if not a murderer!

The principle behind the eighth commandment is broken again and
again in the relations of capital and labor. James was inspired to
warn the dishonest employer: "Behold, the hire of the labourers ...
which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries ... are
entered into the ears of the Lord of sabbath" (James 5:4).

It is also equally true -- and especially so in this era of
corrupt unionism -- that many a working man robs his employer! He
does this by taking his wage and yet withholding his full share of
honest labor. And that is stealing!

All too often one laboring man tells his fellow: "Slow down,
buddy, you're working too hard. If you keep on working like that,
we'll ALL have to work hard around here!"

British and American laborers, spending an undue proportion of
their working time on "tea breaks," "coffee breaks" and "cigarette
breaks," are causing our industries to be badly beaten in the
worldwide trade war now going on. This lack of productivity is
affecting the destiny of the American and British people!

The eighth commandment of Almighty God has a message for both
capital and labor. To capital: "A fair day's wage for a fair day's
work." To labor: "A fair day's work for a fair day's wage."

But just stealing from a fellow human being is not the only
principle involved in the eighth commandment. God owns far more
property than any man (Hag. 2:8).

Stealing From God

In Malachi 3, speaking to modern-day Jacob or Israel (verse 6),
God declares: "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say,
Wherein have we robbed thee? In TITHES and OFFERINGS" (verse 8). God
here indicts our modern English-speaking peoples for robbing our very
Creator and His Work! No wonder there is so little true religion left
on earth today! No wonder there is so much confusion and deceit going
about in the name of Christianity!

God continues: "Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me,
even this whole nation." Then God promises in His Word: "Bring ye all
the TITHES into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house,
and PROVE ME NOW HEREWITH, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not
open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a BLESSING, that
there shall not be room enough to receive it" (verses 9-10).

Here is a bold challenge from Almighty God!

God says He will bless you if you begin tithing -- as He commands
-- through faith in Him and in His Word. Literally hundreds of case
histories may be cited to show that God certainly does bless the
tither even in material ways. He may not always do so immediately.
You may have to obey Him and exercise faith for a while. But as you
serve Him, obey Him, trust Him, God will keep His part of the
bargain. Your blessing is certain to come!

Notice this joyful letter from one of our listeners who took God's
promise literally: "A few weeks ago I was absolutely broke
financially. I received ten cents. I was tempted not to tithe the one
cent. I did. Then a few days later I received one dollar. Again, I
was tempted to keep the tithe because of many needs. I just received
forty dollars and am getting the tithe off to you as soon as
possible. I have been faithful and so has God."

The Command Applied Positively

The definite positive application of the eighth commandment is
stated in the New Testament letter to the Ephesians. "Let him that
stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his
hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that
needeth" (Eph. 4:28). On the one hand, stealing is condemned in this
passage. On the other, working and giving are outlined as the way of
life the positive application of God's command dictates.

Property and possessions are to be gained by honest work -- not
merely to satisfy personal desires and needs -- but so that any
excess may be freely given to the brother in need. In the real intent
or spirit of God's law, a man not only steals by taking from another
that which is his, but by refusal to work in order to share and give
to others in need! The true Christian should be "distributing to the
necessity of saints; given to hospitality" (Rom. 12:13). As God's
begotten children, we are to become like Him (Matt. 5:48). And Jesus
said: "My Father WORKETH hitherto, and I WORK" (John 5:17).

The POSITIVE lesson of the eighth commandment is also summarized
in these all-inclusive words of Jesus, the Christ: "It is more
blessed to GIVE than to receive" (Acts 20:35). If, through God's
Spirit, we can truly learn to live by those words, we will have
indeed fulfilled the spirit of the eighth commandment!

THE NINTH
COMMANDMENT

This is the age of the sophisticated lie, the double standard of
morality, the Watergate syndrome. This is the age of
respectable-appearing lawyers, industrial leaders, government
officials and college professors perjuring themselves on the witness
stand and even before the United States Senate. This age also
presents the peculiar spectacle of millions of people who believe in
evolution attending churches which nominally, at least, believe in
the Creator God of the Bible.

The Christ of the Bible thoroughly condemned the hypocrites of His
day. What would He say about our generation?

Society Living a Lie

In his book, "Sex, Vice and Business", Monroe Fry tells of "the
willingness of communities to accept vice when it brings an indirect
profit to their respectable businessmen." His book shows plainly what
thousands of sophisticated adults already know: "Respectable" church
and civic leaders are often ready and willing to support gambling,
prostitution and narcotics if it is to their financial advantage to
do so.

To the community at large, they appear as the pillars of virtue
and respectability. To the procurers of prostitutes, narcotics or to
big-time gambling czars, they are ready to make an "undercover deal."
They are ready to use their civic influence or position to let
organized vice and crime flourish in their community -- so long as
they get a financial cut.

In plain language, they are living a lie! The revelation of how
much our entire "Christian" society is based on this type of
hypocrisy is absolutely astounding! But we are paying a stern penalty
nevertheless -- for we are breaking the ninth commandment of God.

In this booklet expounding the Ten Commandments, we have seen that
the greatest sin of all is putting something else in place of the
true God. This, in turn, leads to idolatry, to blaspheming God's
name, to breaking His Sabbath, to dishonoring our human parents, to
murder, adultery and stealing.

And the exact same principle applies to the ninth commandment of
God.

The Ninth Commandment Stated

"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour" (Ex.
20:16). It is only in seeking and bearing witness to the truth that
man is associated with God. For, in literal fact, God is truth! Jesus
said: "Thy word is truth" (John 17:17). And again: "I am the way, the
truth, and the life" (John 14:6).

No matter what other faults and weaknesses a man may have, if he
is willing to speak the truth, live openly and truthfully what he
really is, and acknowledge the truth when it is shown to him, that
man can be respected and helped to overcome his personal
weaknesses.

The far-reaching spiritual applications of the ninth commandment
are tremendous. Consider: 1) There is a personal, living Almighty God
of this universe whose ways and laws are intrinsically right. 2)
Therefore, a man who is honest, who is willing to speak the truth and
acknowledge the truth when it is revealed, must eventually be
converted to the true God and His ways! But a man whose word is no
good, who is in the habit of lying to others and to himself -- that
man's very character and mental processes are so twisted and
perverted that he can never come to understand even the truth of God
until his mind is literally cleaned up!

That is why it is so vitally important that -- even though among
humans there may be honest differences of opinion on many matters --
we all learn to live and speak truthfully. Yet, we are living in a
society which is increasingly permeated by various forms of untruth,
hypocrisy and self-deception. If we are ever to build the character
of God -- and inherit eternal life -- we must consider the ninth
commandment in all of its ramifications -- and learn to obey it.

The ninth commandment protects every upright and decent man in
that it helps guard his reputation. Perhaps there is no more
despicable sin than that of slander, the lie invented and spread
abroad with intent to harm one's fellow man. A thief takes only
material goods, which may usually be replaced. But a false witness
who slanders may rob one of esteem and reputation in the eyes of his
fellowmen -- and chances are slim that it will ever be fully
regained.

The Practical Value of Honesty

The immediate value of being able to rely on a man's word would
not only guard every decent man's reputation and eliminate millions
of wasted hours from the burden of investigating every statement and
report several times over, it would also prevent unworthy men from
ever being placed in high positions of responsibility. It would
literally clean up our society!

How often today are entire nations guided by men who are in power
only because of their ability to delude and deceive their own people!
Throughout the world, we see puppet dictators arising and promising
their followers something for nothing. By means of clever propaganda,
the leader makes the people believe what he himself knows to be a big
lie. Then follow many months or years of uncertainty, anguish,
frustration until ultimate disaster strikes and the truth is finally
made plain only by force of circumstance.

Even in our democratic nations, men are all too often recommended
for high office -- not because of integrity and ability -- but
because of what seems expedient at the moment in party politics. The
political and governmental leaders who countenance this are certainly
"bearing false witness" against their fellow countrymen! They are
living a lie -- as well as helping tell one.

In the field of industry and business, think of the tremendous
benefit that would come to the public if each company would really
tell the truth about its own product and honestly seek to serve the
consumer's real needs! The effects of this would be literally
astounding! Think of a society where each brand of toothpaste and
breakfast cereal, for example, was not just an imitation or needless
variation of another but was the only and best of its particular
type, honestly priced and truthfully advertised! Apply this to every
phase of society and you get something near utopia.

But this is not a farfetched or fantastic suggestion. It is simply
the blessing that would come if the entire society really and
literally obeyed the ninth commandment of God!

If you would live forever in the society of God, you are commanded
by Him who gives you life and breath: "Wherefore putting away lying,
speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of
another" (Eph. 4:25).

Apply the Ninth Commandment in Your Life

The very root principle of all sin is vanity. "Vanity of vanities,
saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity" (Eccl. 1:2).
The real reason most men reject the true God is that they want to be
"gods" in their own eyes and the eyes of their fellow men. It is
vanity. Every sin that is committed by man has its ultimate roots in
this one principle. And so it is with every form of lying. Men lie
because they are more concerned with their own self-esteem and sense
of importance than they are with the ultimate good of their fellow
man. They speak and act falsely because they fear the opinions of men
much more than that of Almighty God Himself! The daily actions and
words of nearly all men bear eloquent testimony to the literal truth
of this statement.

As John said even of the religious leaders of his day: "For they
loved the praise of men more than the praise of God" (John 12:43).
Men and women are often ashamed of what they call "failure" in a
business or social sense. They will cheat, falsify and lie in order
to avoid this "failure" -- or to cover it up. But from the point of
view of what is intrinsically "right" -- and of eternal values -- the
thing they should fear is sin. For, as the apostle Paul said, "If God
be for us, who can be against us?" (Rom. 8:31.)

Jesus said: "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and
persecute you, and shall speak all manner of evil against you
falsely, for my sake" (Matt. 5:11). We had all better quit worrying
so much about what puny, mortal men think -- and become far more
concerned about what Almighty God thinks! Then we will learn to cease
from all hypocrisy in business, in social life, in politics -- yes,
in our religious and scientific endeavors.

Remember that many whom this deceitful world condemned have
received God's blessing and are heirs of eternal life. Never forget
that it was through the sin of false testimony and lying that Jesus
Christ was murdered! "For many bare false witness against him, but
their witness agreed not together" (Mark 14:56).

Since, through vanity, men want to believe what is popular at the
moment, they will kid themselves and their associates into believing
even religious and scientific theories that have no basis whatsoever
in actual fact!

God warns against all such hypocrites: "For the wrath of God is
revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of
men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness" (Rom. 1:18). Most Bible
commentaries or lexicons show that the expression "hold" should have
been translated "hold down" or "suppress." Men SUPPRESS the
truth.

God is condemning those who knowingly hold down or suppress the
truth of His existence and His purpose on this earth! God says the
vain philosophers and scientists of this world are "without excuse"
for denying that He literally created this universe and is now ruling
it through His power (verse 20). Most scientists and theologians who
believe in the Satan-inspired theory of evolution ought to know
better. Some of them do know better! But they are going along with
what pleases men, and they are living a lie! God says they are
"without excuse"!

And in the same category are those ministers and Bible students
who continue to teach and practice what they know are ancient heathen
and pagan beliefs and customs condemned in the Word of God. In all
too many cases, they know better! They are "without excuse."

The continued teaching of these basic scientific and spiritual
lies is the very thing that is blinding most of this world from the
real nature of God and of His true plan and purpose here below. This
is the truly terrible result of bearing false witness, self-deception
and lying. For as long as supposedly "educated" leaders keep
deceiving themselves and others about the very existence and power
and plan of God, our civilization is doomed!

Live by the Truth

In your own personal life, then, learn the importance of telling
the truth, believing the truth, living the truth. Be careful not to
base your whole life on a series of lies -- whether they be personal,
political, scientific or religious distortions of truth. Remember, it
is the real truth which will make you free (John 8:32).

In your personal speech, guard your words carefully. Never forget
that a man is only as good as his word. If a man becomes an habitual
liar, it is almost impossible to help him -- for anything he says or
does may simply be another deception.

One of the basic qualities of God's character is that He is truth.
If we couldn't rely on God's Word, there could be no real assurance
of forgiveness from past sins, of present help in time of need, or of
future reward and eternal life.

Even though God had tremendous well-meaning love, and all wisdom
and power -- but you couldn't rely on His Word or His promises --
where would you be?

Have you ever thought of it that way before?

The very diametric opposite of God's character is that of Satan
the devil. As Jesus Christ revealed: "When he speaketh a lie, he
speaketh of his own: FOR HE IS A LIAR, and the father of it" (John
8:44). Those who follow Satan in his refusal to live by truth have a
terrible fate awaiting them: "But the fearful, and unbelieving ...
and ALL LIARS, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with
fire and brimstone: which is the second death" (Rev. 21:8).

Remember, there are no "white lies" in God's sight. Half-truths,
distortions and deceptions are condemned throughout God's Word. Jesus
said: "Thy word is TRUTH" (John 17:17). Let us live by that inspired
Word that we may inherit eternal life in the kingdom that is based on
what is literally true and right. This is the message of the ninth
commandment.

THE TENTH
COMMANDMENT

Did you know that recent surveys have revealed that the financial
troubles plaguing most families are not the result of low income?
Rather, they are directly caused by overextending a normally adequate
income for luxuries and personal indulgence, and by the American
habit of installment buying!

"Buy now and pay later," say the advertisements.

But do you really need to buy this item now? And are you sure you
will be able to "pay later"?

A Society Based on Lust

"Keeping up with the Joneses" is a popular American slogan.
High-pressure advertisements constantly encourage this idea. It is
made to seem backward or wrong not to strive and compete and lust
after as many material possessions as your neighbor owns. The modern
idea is to "get all you can while the getting is good."

The incessant pressure to get ahead -- which usually means to
acquire more money and material property -- has spawned more and more
idolatry. It is blinding the minds and hearts of millions to the life
of God.

Several years ago, a prominent religious publication, "The
Canadian Churchman", ran a sobering article revealing the effect of
this material idolatry on young African Christians studying in the
United States and Canada. One such young man said: "Before I came to
study here, I was a good Christian. I dreamed someday of becoming a
medical missionary. Now I'm an atheist."

"Why?" asked the shocked interviewer.

"Since coming here," he replied, "I've discovered that the white
man has two gods. One that he taught us about, and another one to
whom he prays. A Presbyterian mission school taught me that the
tribal doctrines of my ancestors who worshiped images and believed in
witchcraft were wrong and almost ludicrous. But here you worship
larger images -- cars and electrical appliances. I honestly can't see
the difference."

Surprising? It shouldn't be -- except that most people get so
close to their own sin that they can't see it. We live in a so called
"Christian" society which is literally based on lust and greed for
more and more material things! The frenzied effort to compete with
others and get ahead is the source not only of most financial
problems, but the real cause of much physical and mental illness,
broken homes, frustrated lives. Most important of all, this form of
idolatry leaves one with almost no time, strength or desire ever to
become acquainted with the true God -- whose living laws and ways
alone would bring real inner peace and joy.

The Tenth Commandment Stated

Most men fail to realize that the Ten Commandments are living,
moving, active laws -- like the law of gravity. They are automatic.
When you break them, they break you! So it is with the final
commandment of God's law. Even though it may be broken without the
knowledge of any other human being, the penalty for its violation is
absolutely certain!

Of all the commandments, the tenth refers most specifically to
man's relation to man. The force of the commandment lies in these
words: "Thy neighbour's ... thy neighbour's ... his ... his ... his
... his ... thy neighbour's." This is a SEVENFOLD guarding of the
interests of another.

It is not wrong to lawfully desire a wife, a servant, or an ox or
ass. But where the object admired is legitimately out of reach of the
one admiring, admiration merging into desire to possess breaks the
commandment.

Although this commandment deals most obviously with human and
physical relationships, the SPIRITUAL REQUIREMENT of the command is
in some ways more rigid than any that has preceded it. This command
regulates even the thoughts in the mind and heart of man. Most men
look on sin as an outward or physical type of thing. They do not
realize that the holy, righteous character which God purposes in us
necessitates that even our thoughts be completely purified and made
like His. Action follows thought. What you think, you are.

If you secretly reject God's standard and His way, if in your
heart you lust after something which you either cannot or will not
come to lawfully possess with His blessing, then-sooner or later --
this mental rebellion will bring forth outward sin. The actions will
then proceed to defy God -- to break His law -- because the thoughts
have been doing this all along!

This command pierces through all "surface Christianity" and shows
whether a man has really surrendered his will to his Maker! It is a
searching and fearful principle. But it is a command you must learn
to obey if you are ever to receive eternal life and glory in the
Kingdom of God.

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Phil.
2:5). Through God's Spirit in us, we must fight the fight of faith --
put down the lustful human nature within us -- and ultimately succeed
in "bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ"
(II Cor. 10:5). This is the ultimate goal of the true Christianity be
fully attained in the resurrection.

But we are to grow in God's character during this life. We must
learn as did righteous Enoch, Noah, Abraham and other servants of the
Most High to "walk with God." We must go His way -- do as He does --
think as He thinks.

But the normal mind of man is filled with selfishness, vanity,
competition, greed, hate, lust. It is a mind cut off from the ways
and thoughts of God (Isa. 55:8, 9).

That is why Jesus emphasized how important it is to get our minds
changed, converted and cleaned up when He said: "Blessed are the pure
in heart: for they shall see God" (Matt. 5:8).

Where Do We Stand?

Especially since World War II, life in our Western society has
sped up. We are rushing to make more money. We are in a hurry to have
a good time, to get everything we can out of life. On every side, we
are taught to compete with our fellow man for social honors and
material advancement. We have come to literally crave material
luxuries that were in some cases completely unknown just two
generations ago. We are urged to spend more than we make -- to do
more than we ought. "You owe it to yourself," the subtle
advertisement reads in putting over the idea that we would be foolish
not to buy a bigger car, eat at a more expensive restaurant, or take
longer and more costly trips. The emphasis is on getting and on
self.

On an international scale, the nations of the world fight and kill
because of this same attitude of heart. "From whence come wars and
fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war
in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have,
and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask
not" (James 4: 1, 2).

All too often, the capitalist lusts for more money than he can
easily attain by paying fair wages. So he robs his employees by
paying too little, and spending too little on improving working
conditions and safety. Likewise, the modern laborer -- often
misguided by unscrupulous union leaders -- learns to lust after more
money than he can honestly earn. Through organized pressure and
political trickery, he thinks he can get something for nothing.

Why do so-called "authors" write cheap paperback novels based on
nothing but filth, obscenity and juvenile stupidity? Why do
publishers print such corruption which degrades the human emotions of
love, kindness and idealism to a level lower than the dumb brute?

You can quickly see HUNDREDS of other major examples of
covetousness in our society if your eyes are really open. But be
willing to see your own covetousness as well! Be willing to repent of
it and ask God for the love and strength to overcome it.

Our generation needs these words of the Son of God: "Take heed,
and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the
abundance of the things which he possesseth" (Luke 12:15).

Did you get that? Your real success and happiness in life, Christ
said, is not truly able to be measured by how new or powerful a car
you drive, the kind of home you live in, the clothes you wear, or
even the food you eat. Happiness is a state of mind. It comes from
having the very Spirit and mind of Christ inside your own mind. Jesus
said: "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son
of man hath not where to lay his head" (Luke 9:58). The love, joy and
peace which Jesus exemplified came from giving and serving -- not
from any material thing Jesus was able to get.

Jesus, the Son of man, was able to overcome human vanity and
covetousness because He put the service of God far ahead of anything
and everything else. After telling how the unconverted seek after --
and worry about -- the material necessities and comforts, He
commanded: "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his
righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matt.
6:33).

The Commandments Join Together

And so at this point the last commandment joins hands with the
first. For whatever you seek contrary to God's will, you covet. If in
your mind and heart you lust and covet something more than to obey
the Creator and receive His blessings, that thing becomes an idol to
you. "Covetousness ... IS idolatry" (Col. 3:5).

Then, whatever you idolize you put in place of the true God. And
you break the first commandment: "Thou shalt have no other gods
before me" (Ex. 20:3). The apostle Paul said: "Know ye not, that to
whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servant ye are to whom
ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto
righteousness?" (Rom. 6:16.) When you begin to covet material things,
you "serve" them. You spend your time, your energy, your money for
these things. In such a situation, you have neither time nor energy
to really study the Bible, or to spend an hour in earnest prayer
before the One who gives you life and breath. And you find yourself
being stingy and jealous of the money you owe your Maker to finance
the proclamation of His truth. By this simple process, the material
things you lust for and covet literally become your god. For you
truly serve and worship them -- and find in your life little time,
strength and wealth with which to serve the true God with all of your
heart, strength and mind.

Do you see?

Covetousness is a terrible thing -- for it cuts you off from the
fellowship and blessings and love of the great God of heaven who made
all that is -- but intended that this material creation be used in
His service and for His glory. And, in practical daily life,
covetousness violates the basic principle of the way of life set
forth by all the commandments of God and by Jesus Christ Himself.
Jesus summarized this principle when He said: "It is more blessed to
give than to receive'' (Acts 20:35).

In learning to lovingly, sincerely and intelligently serve your
fellow man, and to serve and worship the true God, you will find the
only real sense of fulfillment and joy in this life. And in the world
tomorrow, you will be given eternal life and glory in a divine
government literally based on the Ten Commandments -- the true way of
love, of giving and serving your fellow man, and of worshiping and
exalting the living God who gave these commandments for our eternal
good.